Yes, And
by alienoctopus
Summary: Focusing on the OC, Holly Tully, this is a story about learning to say yes- because having good improvisational skills when you're friends with the Weasley twins is essential! this is undergoing the re-writing process. Go on and read a bit, follow if you like it. The story will be about the same. Just better sounding.
1. A Whole New Story

**I've mentioned that I'm re-writing this series. I'm having a blast doing so, too.** **Here's the new first chapter of "Yes, And." I'll be posting the rest over the next two months.** **Enjoy!  
-alienoctopus**

"It is going to be a very busy year at Hogwarts," Cedric Diggory announced to all the other Prefects. It was his duty as Head Boy to guide the Prefects, starting first with a meeting in the Hogwarts Express on the way to the castle.  
It's always going to be a bloody busy year, sixth year Gryffindor Holly Tully thought to herself; I highly doubt this one will be different.

Every year was the same to Holly. Go to Hogwarts, study, take exams, write essays, Harry Potter and his friends cause trouble, the Weasley twins cause trouble, Cedric Diggory is incredibly attractive, and that was it. Though Holly enjoyed academics and taking a glance at Cedric every now and then, there was little else for her at Hogwarts. She had no real friends. In fact, most of her dorm mates seemed to hate her. Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet had no problem reminding Holly of this. They called her boring, ugly, and annoying. Holly knew they weren't the only people to think such things of her, but Angelina and Alicia were the only ones to say it to Holly's face.

She looked around the train at all the people she had remembered from the year before. She had patrolled with most of them, but only knew them as fellow prefects. Some new fifth years she did not recognize paid attention to everything Cedric said, hoping to get a good start on their position. Holly hated being a Prefect. The only good thing about it was that she had something else besides homework to occupy her time. Her entire family had been Prefects. Her mum, her dad, and her older brother. They were all Head Boy and Girl, too, something Holly was right on track for. But she did not enjoy her duties, or having to chastise students for breaking the rules. That kind of work was better left to other people, people like Hermione Granger.

Hermione was the closest person Holly would call a friend. Really, that just happened to sit near each other in the library, but the younger witch liked to pick Holly's brain, and Holly felt the same.

In her distaste for being a Prefect, Holly did not listen to Cedric's speech about how Professor Dumbledore was to make a huge announcement that would somehow affect Prefect duties. Rather, she watched his perfect lips form the words and imagined what it would be like to feel them on her own lips.

When Cedric stopped and the Head Girl introduced herself, Holly zoned out completely.

Pro. Prefect, and hopefully Head Girl, would look great on her resume, in addition to her fantastic grades in nearly every subject.

Con. Holly hated being labeled as a Prefect.

Pro. Duties meant getting out of the dormitory.

Con. Actually having to do patrols.

Pro. Made her parents happy.

Con. Did not make her happy.

Pro. Patrolling the train meant she didn't have to find a compartment.

Con. Holly hated it.

"Holly? Are you all right?"

Pro. Cedric Diggory.

"Oh, I'm fine, Cedric. Congrats on Head Boy." Holly said, somewhat dazed.

"You looked a bit spacey, are you sure you're all right?" He asked again.

"Just fine. Are you patrolling the train, too?" She asked. Holly felt stupid at how hopeful she sounded.

"No, you volunteered for it. I'm off to find my girlfriend. Find me if you need help, yeah?"

Holly wanted to say she needed help right then.

"I'll see you at Hogwarts, then." Cedric said before he left. Holly pressed her palm to her forehead, feeling like such an idiot for even trying to talk to him.

Con. Cedric Diggory.

The train was mildly uneventful, though Holly now had a growing collection of Fanged Frisbees, and it felt longer than ever. It was if the Hogwarts Express didn't want her to start her sixth year. But, despite the length and great bore of the ride, Holly stuck to her duties, at least glad for the excuse not to actually talk to anyone.

The time to ride took was not the only strange thing, however. Holly knowingly stationed herself in the car that she knew the Weasley Twins would be on.

Though Holly had never been a...victim of the twins, she had witnessed them lazily cast tripping jinxes on first years, Transfigure Professor Snape's cauldron to turn into a rinse basin, brazenly walk around the castle after hours- she just knew they were going to cause trouble at some point. It seemed to be a good idea to hang around them in case they wanted to do something.

Instead, they sat in their compartment, alone, huddled over a piece of parchment with a quill in hand, quietly discussing something that only the two of them knew.

As for Holly, she simply couldn't care enough to find out.

-0-

Holly had heard of the Triwizard Tournament before. Perhaps in reading, or maybe even from her parents. Most likely from reading—Holly and her mum didn't talk about anything as casual as tournaments, and her father's blood status presumed that he would know very little about long-standing wizard traditions.

Which was just fine, as Holly could care less about the tournament. She was not seventeen yet and could not enter, and the only person she would pay attention to who could enter the tournament was Cedric.

Holly figured she had been thinking quite enough about Cedric Diggory as of late and should probably find a new thing to obsess over.

She settled herself in her four-poster bed, attempting to block out her dorm mates' discussion each other's summers and the boys they've kissed and the boys they're going to kiss—and what's that? Angelina is going to enter the tournament. Fantastic. Holly couldn't enter. Holly couldn't even kiss a boy.

She took out a quill and parchment and set to writing.

_Dear James,_

_Hogwarts misses you, believe it or not. I think Hogwarts prefers you to me, anyway._

_Cedric Diggory had taken your place as Head Boy. He's so good-looking; I couldn't even pay attention to anything he said during the first prefects' meeting. It doesn't matter, because we'll have to have another one seeing as the Triwizard Tournament is going to be at Hogwarts this year._

_Did you know that? I'm sure you had some idea, seeing as you work for the Ministry. _

_I can't enter, but I suppose I should be excited to meet foreign students. That could be exciting, right? Maybe I will be a cute French boy from Beauxbatons and I could kiss him and tell my dorm mates about it._

_That probably won't happen. But it would be nice, for once, to be able to brag about something._

_I suppose I should be getting to bed. Classes begin tomorrow, and I couldn't be more excited to begin N.E.W.T. Transfiguration._

_Love you, brother,_

_Holly_

Holly immediately crumpled the letter and shoved it under her bed. That wasn't the kind of letter she'd ever send her brother. She had promised to send word as soon as she could when she go to Hogwarts. But that was more than word. Holly didn't reveal those sorts of details to her family.

_James,_

_Just writing to let you, Mum, and Dad know that I've gotten to Hogwarts just fine._

_Cedric Diggory, I'm sure you remember him, has taken Percy Weasley's place as Head Boy. I'm sure you saw that coming, though. You will be quite the legacy for him to follow, however, I am sure he will do a fine job._

_Hogwarts is hosting the Triwizard Tournament this year. I believe two other schools are competing—Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. It should be exciting._

_I must be getting to bed._

_Holly_

There, Holly thought, not too personal but not too stuffy. The perfect letter to send home to her family. Holly folded the parchment into an envelope and placed it on her trunk. She decided to mail it out before breakfast the next morning, as her eyelids grew heavier by the moment. It wasn't long before her head touched her pillow and she drifted off to sleep.

-0-

Holly, as per usual, woke up earlier than anyone in Gryffindor. She cleaned herself and got dressed for the day, grabbing her book bag and letter on her way out of the dormitory.

While walking to the Owlry, she had to fight to hide her grin. Holly could not wait for classes to start. Though she worked very hard to do well in her classes, studying was a welcome distraction from what would otherwise be nothingness. Her brain went through every possible schedule she could have this year. Perhaps she should try a little of everything.

Holly was an ace for Potions and Transfiguration. She knew she would have to take those classes at a N.E.W.T. level.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was usually easy, and absolutely necessary, so that was on her list. Herbology, definitely—Holly found the subject relaxing, though she only received an Acceptable on her O.W.L.. But Professor Sprout, she knew, took any student with a passing grade into her N.E.W.T. levels.

Charms? Oh, Charms is probably useful for anyone, Holly thought, marking it down in her head. Five N.E.W.T. level classes. That had to be plenty, right?

Perhaps when I see McGonagall to help pass out schedules, I can ask her opinion, Holly thought, I haven't chosen a career path yet, but she's usually very intuitive about these sorts of things.

Holly entered the Owlry, expecting it to be empty. But there was Fred and George Weasley, standing with a letter in front of them. They were engrossed in it, perhaps making sure that every word was chosen carefully.

"Excuse me, what are you doing out of bed so early?" Holly asked suspiciously. The twins jumped in surprise.

"Sending a letter." One of them said.

"Is that against Hogwarts rules? Would hate to already get a detention, especially just from a prefect." Said the other.

"There's nothing wrong with sending a letter. It just isn't typical that students are awake this early on the first day of classes." Holly noted. She then went on to choose her owl for post.

"What's your name, then?"

Holly fought very hard to bite her tongue. She had been in classes with the twins since they started Hogwarts and they didn't know her name?! She balled up her fists. Through clenched teeth, she answered, "Holly Tully. I've been in every single one of your classes since first year." She turned from the owl she had given her letter to and faced the twins.

I've been at the top of almost every single one of those bloody classes, too, she thought to herself, you better know my damn name.

"Ah, yes. Holly Tully. McGonagall's pet." One of the twins grinned rather maliciously.

"I am not her pet!" Holly raised her voice.

"Ri-ight." The same twin said.

"You better change before more people wake up," Holly said, hurriedly.

"That's a good idea, George. Would hate for another pretty bird to see us in our nightclothes." Unless they were tricking Holly, this was Fred. He was still grinning from before when he noticed Holly turn bright red.

"E-exactly." She sputtered out. She went towards the exit, hoping neither of them said anything on her way out of the tower.

"Tully," one them, Holly figured George, called out again, "don't tell anyone you saw us here."

"Why? What did you do? I'm a prefect, you know—"

"—Calm down. We didn't do anything. We only want to keep up the allure of mystery that follows us around."

"More like the allure of arsehole-ry." Holly said under her breath. She cursed internally once she realized the twins had heard her.

"A prefect with a mouth. You might come in useful one day, what do you think, George?"

"It's always good to have a prefect on your side."

Holly left before saying anything else. She wanted to get to McGonagall's office and then breakfast rather than waste her time with the Weasley twins.

Who were acting strangely. Or, perhaps rather normally for the twins. Holly couldn't shake their meeting out of her head.

"Morning, Professor." She greeted with a smile once she came upon Professor McGonagall's office.

"Miss Tully, I can always count on you to be early. I trust your summer went well?" The older woman asked.

"As well as any other. Professor, I have some questions about my schedule."

"You haven't even seen your schedule yet."

"I know, I've only been wondering what classes I should take? I don't want to be overwhelmed by N.E.W.T. levels."

"I expect to see you in Transfiguration no matter what. But have you given any though as to a career after Hogwarts?" She asked, gathering papers from a drawer.

"I'm not really sure. I have been working on writing textbooks, though. For Muggle-born students, so they can have an easier time understanding magic."

"Oh?"

"I got the idea when I was talking to Hermione Granger last year. There are some many things that students who grow up in magical families have a stronger grasp on than Muggle-borns simply because they've been exposed to it. I'm trying to find a way to explain the magical to those who have no experience with it." Holly explained. She wrung her fingers.

"A noble task. I'm actually rather surprised such a thing doesn't exist yet." She commented. "I believe, then, if this is your ambition, you should take the core classes—Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Herbology. N.E.W.T. level Divination and Astronomy are one class dedicated to both arts, so I suggest taking that. What do you think about Care of Magical Creatures?" McGonagall asked.

"I'm not sure. I mean, I never had a knack for the class and only received an Acceptable, even though I loved Scamand—"

"—Don't take it, then. So far you have five classes. What did you score in History of Magic?"

Holly blushed.

Her entire family of Ravenclaws had scored almost all Os in their Ordinary Wizarding Levels. Her Dad received an A in Divination, her Mum got an E in Muggle Studies, and her brother James received an A in Arithmancy. Those were the only scores that kept all three from Outstandings across the board.

Holly received an O in Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions. She had gotten an E in Astronomy and Defense Against the Dark Arts. She had even gotten an A in Divination, Herbology, Care of Magical Creature, and Muggle Studies. She didn't take Arithmancy or Ancient Runes. Overall, Holly did very well in her O.W.L.s, even though her Mum chastised her all summer for only received three O's. But she got it even worse for History of Magic.

"I scored a P." Holly admitted.

Professor McGonagall looked shocked. "One less class for you to take, then. I believe you should continue Muggle Studies, and Defense Against the Dark Arts is always an important subject. That makes… Seven classes. Will you be able to handle that along with your Prefect duties?"

"I was in more classes last year with O.W.L.s." Holly said.

"Very good, then. I expect you to work hard, Miss Tully."

"I always do." She promised. But her head was wrought with worry.

Shit, she cursed, seven N.E.W.T. levels?! Perhaps it didn't seem like much to her genius family, to whom everything came easily, but it was a lot for Holly. She figured this was why she was sorted into Gryffindor rather than Ravenclaw. Holly had to stay up night after night to make sure she understood her work. She studied for ages to maintain her high marks. This felt like a daunting amount of work.

But Holly could always drop what she couldn't handle. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Professor McGonagall handed her a stack of schedules and instructed her to hand them out at breakfast. She was dismissed.


	2. The Bloody Weasley Twins

**I'm sorry I haven't done anything for this story in a while. I got really carried away by my classes, and my Fremione story.** **For those of you who love canon: So do I. However, I have made further conceits in this story that are not canon. 1. I mean, an OC character, that's obvious. 3. Angelina and Alicia are completely out of character for a while. That gets better. Also, I'm pretty sure Alicia is a year below the twins, but I've moved her to the same year. 3. Fred and George did not receive an O.W.L. in Potions, yet I might have them in Potions. I might not- that parts sort of up in the air at the moment. I'm just warning you beforehand.** **Thank you for reading/reviewing/favoriting/following!** **Enjoy!** **-alienoctopus**

The students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang had arrived. Holly had found little interest in any of them so far, but every boy was either head over heels over the pretty girls from Beauxbatons, or Viktor Krum of Durmstrang. She couldn't care less about either.

But, Holly could not deny that she was excited for the Triwizard Tournament. Though she most likely wouldn't know any of the competitors, she couldn't wait to see her peers use their magical skill in competition. Holly loved clever spell work, and she was certain that, though she wouldn't know them or even like them, she would get to watch very smart witches and wizards complete three tasks.

What Holly hated, however, was that he prefect duties now included watching over the Goblet of Fire at night so that underage students would be prevented from throwing their name in the goblet.

Luckily, she only had to stay by the goblet, so she was able to bring some homework with her while she waited for ten o'clock to come around.

Perhaps it was the best patrol to have, but that was lost on Holly, who would rather not be on patrol at all. She tried not to let her distaste bother her as she opened her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. Her classmates were absolutely enraptured by Professor Moody. Holly liked that Moody was hands on, and that the class involved a lot of dueling, but he seemed to be very fascinated with the darker, meaner spells. Their first class covered the Unforgivable Curses, which somewhat lined up with what they were meant to be learning that year (of course, Holly had read a bit ahead in her textbooks before the term began) but it was surprising that he had taught the same lesson to every year.

Holly shuddered at the thought of a first year witnessing the Cruciatius Curse.

Since, though she knew Moody knew what he was talking about, Holly made sure she thoroughly covered the material herself, as well.

She reviewed her notes, which consisted of "constant vigilance" written several times in the margins, when the lights went out. The room was barely visible with the cool blue flame of the Goblet of Fire as its only light source. Holly dropped her things to the floor and stood, her wand arm outstretched.

"Who's there?" She called out. She was only answered by her voice, bouncing back at her.

"Hello?" She asked the darkness.

No voice called out to her, but she heard a quiet shuffling of feet near the entrance.

"Answer me." Holly half-shouted. She was beginning to fill with fear and frustration. Still nothing. "I'm a prefect and can hex you, if I have to." She informed whoever was there.

"Calm down, no need to send out curses." A smooth drawl spoke from where she had heard movement. Holly waved her wand and the lights returned.

"Would've been easier if you had done that a minute ago." What Holly thought was the same voice said. But when her eyes adjusted back to the brightness, she realized two people were there—two identical people, with bright red hair.

"I have to give you detention." She said, trying to keep her voice as businesslike as possible.

"You don't have to, you know." One of the Weasley twins said.

"I'm supposed to." Holly said. Even if I wasn't, I'd give you both detentions, she thought.

She went through the books she brought down and found the prefect detention slips. "Professor McGonagall will contact you in the morning about your detentions."

"No, I don't think she will."

"Because you're not going to give us a detention."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Holly asked.

"Entering our names in the Goblet of Fire." They answered in unison.

"Yes."

"Then why are you really here?"

"We told you," one of them said, "to enter our names."

"I don't believe you." Holly said.

"And why not?" The other twin asked.

"There's no reason for me to believe either of you." She scoffed.

"Pretty perfect prefect," one of them said, his voice taunting, "if you give us detentions, I promise you will regret it."

"You're threatening me."

"Ah, so glad they pick the smart ones for prefects, aren't you, Georgie?"

Holly was beginning to get very frustrated. Not only were the twins defying her, they were making fun of her, too.

"Haven't you always wanted to break the rules, even if it was just once?" This one had to be George. His words resonated with Holly. Yes, she thought. I've always wanted to break the rules.

"No." She lied.

"Let us off just this once, then, and we won't come back. We won't try to enter our names. We'll walk to the tower and go to bed."

"You can't trick me." Holly said. "I'm not an idiot."

"Is everything going all right, Holly? I heard voices." Another voice came down from the corridor, pulling Holly's attention away from the twins. She looked to see Cedric approached. She turned her head, the cat had caught the identical canaries, but the twins had gone.

"E-e-verything's fine, Cedric." She stumbled her words out. "I must have been talking to myself. Sorry to have bothered you."

"Not a problem. I thought I'd check on you, either way." Cedric said.

"It is rather lonely in here." Holly choked out. Her face was bright red. She couldn't believe what she had just said.

"I'm sorry. But we're all grateful you volunteered for this patrol. Someone's got to watch the goblet." Cedric gave Holly a friendly pat on the back.

Holly was so taken aback from the gesture that she began a coughing fit. Her face became even redder from the lack of oxygen.

"Are you all right?" Cedric asked, mild worry lining his voice.

"Just," she coughed, "fine." Holly continued through small, weak coughs. "I'll be ok."

"I'm going to check on the other prefects, then. I'll probably be on the third floor if you need me." Cedric ran off.

Holly doubled over, still coughing, and gave Cedric a thumbs up as he left.

"Ooooo, Cedric, it's so _lonely_ here." One of the voices from before said.

Holly cleared her throat. "Where were you? I thought I had you caught."

"We were right here there entire time," Holly was convinced this was George.

"Yeah, you just couldn't notice us because Diggory walked in."

"I didn't—I don't!" Holly protested, though she wasn't exactly sure what she was defending.

"To have a bird look at you the way she looks at Diggory, Freddie, it must be nice."

"Shut up." Holly yelled.

"Only if you let us go."

"Absolutely not."

"Fine, then. But do know, we will get you back."

"I'll risk it." Holly's defiance came back.

"Haven't you ever wanted to be cool?" George asked in final protest.

Of course I want to be cool, Holly thought, but that won't happen whether I do my duties or not.

She sighed. "Fine. Let me escort you back to Gryffindor tower, and I won't give you detentions."

The twins grinned at each other. "Brilliant."

-0-

"I can't believe she bloody did it—" Fred ranted in the boys' dormitory the next night.

"—You've said—" George interrupted, but fell on deaf ears.

"—She told us she wouldn't write us up, and then McGonagall calls us after lunch and tells us we have bloody detention!"

"I know, Fred. I was there. It happened to me." George said from his bed. He was lying down with his eyes closed, something he did often when his twin was furious.

Fred and George were identical in almost every way—even their own mum couldn't tell them apart. But Fred was always the one who got irrationally angry. Fred was the one who would occasionally take things too far.

"I think her and Angelina share a dormitory. Maybe we can get Angie to sneak some Balding Potion into her shampoo."

"Maybe we should be friends with her." George suggested.

"Yes—wait, what? Are you mental? No way are we going to be friends with a prefect."

"A prefect who essentially outsmarted us."

"If we were going to be friends with her, she wouldn't have given us detentions." Fred said indignantly.

"She didn't turn us over to Diggory." George offered.

"I think it's obvious she's fallen for Diggory's charms and forgot we were there."

"Then maybe she should see our charm. Think, Fred. What if we had a prefect on our side? We'd never have to sneak around."

"Because she'll know where to catch us."

"Or she'll make sure we won't get caught."

Fred thought about this.

"What's this bird's name?" He asked after a moment.

"Tully. Holly Tully."

"She's in my Transfiguration class."

"She's in all of our classes."

"Well, then, maybe we should talk to her."

"When?"

"Well, you can try talking to her in Transfiguration tomorrow, and then I'll talk to her during Herbology. I'll even try to partner with her, Lee won't mind."

"She's going to think it's a trick." Fred warned.

"So we keep doing it until she believes us and we're friends who help each other sneak around the castle. Maybe she'll let us into the prefects' bath."

-0-

"Oi! Tully!" Fred called out in McGonagall's classroom. Holly had just walked in, but ignored his call. "Tully, I'm talking to you."

"What?" She asked timidly, not knowing what to expect.

"Come sit back here." He motioned her to the back of the classroom.

"No, thank you." She answered, sitting down at the very front.

Holly always sat at the front of then classroom. This was not a tendency of her outstanding skills of being a student; rather, she had worn glasses for most of her Hogwarts career. Thick lensed, dark rimmed glasses would have been iconic on Holly if she were ever admired. Because of her poor eyesight, and the ease of seeing things better up front glasses or no glasses, it was habit for her to sit up front.

Fred took Holly's refusal to move to the back row with him as an invitation to sit next to her.

"Excuse me?" She asked.

"Did you used to wear glasses?" He asked, getting very close to her face.

"Yes." She gritted her teeth.

"Then how can you see?" He asked.

"Because I can."

"Good morning. Today, we're going to begin human transfiguration. Now get into pairs…" Professor McGonagall began her lesson. Students looked immediately for their friends or the person next to them to partner with.

No one ever sat by Holly. No one, except for Fred.

"Looks like we're going to be partners today." He said, excitedly clasping his hands together. "Now, when you give me a mustache, make sure it looks very manly, nothing wispy."

Holly and Fred turned the desks so they would be facing each other. They were focusing on making each other's eyebrows grow.

To Holly's surprise, Fred succeeded in this before she did.

"How—how did you do that?" She asked dumbfounded.

"Didn't think I'd be that good at magic, did you, Tully?" He asked, pride seeping through his voice.

"All right, all right, now change me back." Holly said, her eyebrows now long enough to reach the bottom of her eyes.

"Why? I think you look darling. Diggory would probably think so, too." Fred said loud enough for the entire class to hear.

"Sod off." Holly said. She was getting angry now.

"Fine, I'll fix them." Fred transfigured her eyebrows back to normal. "Would think a pretty perfect prefect like you would be able to take care of that yourself."

"I am so glad I actually wrote you up." Holly laughed. Both her and Fred's voices were rising. The class quickly stopped their practice and watched them.

"Oh, so you can impress pretty-boy Diggory that you caught me and George? Maybe he'll say your name if you do a good enough job." Fred spat.

Holly felt fire race through her. She couldn't stop her next action. All she could do was let it happen.

"Miss Tully!" McGonagall yelled out in surprise.

"I know Mr. Weasley isn't the easiest partner, but striking him was not the answer. I'm rather surprised at you—you're a prefect, Miss Tully. You're meant to be an upstanding student."

"But—" Holly wanted to protest, but knew she had no defense.

"Detention for the both of you. Meet me in the Hospital Wing Friday night, at seven."

"I didn't do anything!" Fred argued.

"I doubt that very much, Mr. Weasley." The bell rung. "The Hospital Wing at seven." Professor McGonagall reminded.

Holly raged out of the room, Fred not too far behind her.

"I can't believe you got me a bloody detention!" She shouted at him once he was a step behind. Fred backed away.

"It's not my fault you slapped me."

"You know it is." She yelled. "You provoked me."

"I didn't mean to."

"Sure you didn't, Weasley. What, you decide to sit next me just to get me into trouble? Is this because I gave you and your brother detentions? I'm supposed to give you detentions—I'm a bloody prefect you twat!"

Fred was dumbstruck. He didn't expect this kind of reaction from Holly—he never pegged her for the angry type—and he certainly didn't expect her to call him a twat.

She started to storm out of the castle to go to Herbology.

"Wait—"

"Sod off, Weasley!"

Now I've got to go deal with other one, Holly thought, he'll probably get me into even more trouble.

Holly stopped in her tracks. Her heart raced as only one thought struck her.

What was Mum going to do to her?


	3. Friends?

"Hey, Holly. Want to be partners?"

Holly tore her head of from her Herbology book. She had been hoping that a brief review of the assigned reading would cool her down from her encounter with Fred.

"What, so you can get me a detention, too? No, thanks." She said when she saw it was George.

"What are you talking about?" George asked.

"As if you don't know. I'm sure the two of you planned it." Holly slammed her book shut and placed it on the table.

"What happened?"

"Your complete," Holly looked around and hushed her voice, "arse of a twin got me a detention in Transfiguration today. I've never gotten one before. My mum is going to—a detention!"

George raised his eyebrows in shock. For one, he was surprised that a prefect was willing to curse in front of him.

"I swear that I had no idea. He and I agreed that we should try and be friends with you." George said.

Holly laughed. "Friends? Yeah, all right, I'll believe that when the Giant Squid starts teaching Ancient Runes."

"Seriously—"

George was cut off by Professor Sprout, who announced that instead of a hands-on lesson today, it was going to be a lecture. He groaned. Not only was he going to be unable to make any progress with Holly, he would have to sit and listen to Professor Sprout talk about plants rather than work with plants.

George watched Holly throughout the entire lecture. She looked angry the entire time. He cursed his twin—they could have had a prefect friend and he went and ruined it. He wondered how it happened. Holly always seemed like the student every teacher wanted—smart, studious, quiet, always followed the rules—how could she have gotten a detention?

As Professor Sprout started describing plants, George kept thinking. Holly had just called Fred an arse, and she was rather devious in actually giving them detention. Perhaps there was more to this girl than what they thought. She was sorted into Gryffindor, anyway. There had to be something they didn't know about her—maybe she was cool.

The lesson ended. George looked down at his notes and noticed the pages were empty. He shrugged it off—Lee would probably let him use his.

Holly walked out of the greenhouse as quickly as she could, not even bothering to pack her Herbology book and notes.

"Holly, wait up!" George called after her once he was within a good distance. Holly kept walking.

"Come on, Holly!" George caught up with her.

It was a strange scene for their fellow students. Holly was never seen talking with many people, yet alone a Weasley twin. It certainly got an angry look from Angelina Johnson, who was in the middle of a Care of Magical Creatures class.

Holly stopped walking and turned to face George. "What is it then? Are you going to apologize for your bellend of a brother, or are you going to be infuriating, too?"

George took a step back. Any sane man would if they saw the anger in Holly's eyes.

"What did Fred do to get you a detention?" He asked, keeping his voice calm.

"I slapped him." Holly said simply. She started walking again, but this time a little slower, as if she wanted George to keep up.

"Sounds to be like you earned that detention." He said.

"He was provoking me."

"How?"

"By being a bellend. I thought that bit was obvious."

"Holly, listen, we really did talk about being your friend. I'm sorry about Fred, but I didn't do anything."

"I've got enough friends, thanks." Holly said as she walked off into the girls' lavatory.

George sighed and walked away. Perhaps it was a lost cause, he thought, now that Fred mucked things up, it definitely is.

He went straight to Gryffindor tower, through the common room, and to his dormitory, where Fred was absent-mindedly playing with a rubber ball charmed to always come back to the hand that threw it.

"What did you do?" George asked angrily.

"What do you mean what did I do?" Fred sat up on his bed, not ready to suddenly defend himself over whatever George was going to yell about.

"Holly Tully—we agreed we were going to try and be friends with her, yet somehow, you landed her in detention?"

"She slapped me!" Fred said.

"What did you do to make her slap you?" George asked.

"I may have brought up her love of Diggory, and maybe taunted her about being a prefect." Fred admitted.

"You can't do that to people you're trying to befriend."

"Why do we even want to be friends with her? There're plenty of other prefects."

"I think she might actually be sort of cool." George said.

Fred laughed. "Cool? When I think cool, I don't think Holly Tully." He laughed some more. "What makes you even think that?"

"Well, she called you and arse _and_ a bellend."

"She did what?"

"She called you a bellend. I've never heard a prefect talk like that—I've never heard a girl talk like that." George told Fred the exchange he had with Holly.

"All right, so what if she does end up being cool? There's no way she wants anything to do with us."

"Then I suppose we'll have to keep trying. We'll go sit by her for lunch—she can't avoid us if she needs to eat."

"Good idea, brother." Fred said.

And so the twins went down to the Great Hall for the beginning of lunch, a meal offered from 11:30 until 2, so every student had a chance to eat no matter when their classes were.

At noon, Lee Jordan and Katie Bell joined the twins, but both had to go to their next classes. An hour into waiting, Angelina joined the twins.

"I saw you talking with Holly Tully on the grounds." She said to George.

"Oh, yeah. We're trying to be friends with her." George explained. "Except Fred here got her in detention today."

"Tully in detention? She'll probably cry herself to sleep tonight," Angelina laughed, "That girl exists only not to cause trouble. She's so boring. Why would you even want to be friends with her?"

"I think she might actually end up being interesting." George defended.

"I've shared a dorm with her for five years—trust me, she's anything but interesting."

Fred and George left it at that. It was very clear that Angelina did not like Holly—a piece of information they stored away for later, just in case. Soon enough, Angelina left the Great Hall, too.

The twins waited and waited, but Holly never showed.

"Maybe she's avoiding us." Fred suggested.

"Maybe. I guess we'll have to ambush her at dinner, then."

Fred and George retreated to their dormitory and played around with some charms. They bounced new products ideas off each other. They effectively took up time until dinner, and made it to the Great Hall.

"Did you ever talk to that bird?" Lee asked upon the twins sitting down.

"No, she didn't come down for lunch." George said as he filled his plate with food.

"We're hoping to see her during dinner. George says I have to apologize, so I'd rather do that publically in case she hits me again." Fred said.

"I can't believe she hit you. She's such a goody prefect." Angelina said. "She's always in the dormitory before ten o'clock, and when she's not, she's on prefect duty. Always doing her homework, waking up before six in the morning—She acts like she's perfect, but she's absolutely unbearable."

"She can't be that bad." George said.

"Believe me; she is." Angelina assured him.

But George wasn't fully convinced of Holly being unbearable. He was starting to get the impression that there was more to her than a prefect badge. He was hoping Fred thought so, too.

The twins, for the second time that day, waited and waited, but didn't see Holly all throughout dinner.

-0-

Students trickled into the Gryffindor common room all right, most of them eventually going off to bed. But Holly remained in the back corner. She didn't have prefect duties that night, and she wasn't up to going to her dormitory when she knew everyone would still be awake. Holly was sure that there would be an inquisition, as there was no doubt Fred had told Angelina what had happened. The girls didn't really like her all that much already.

So Holly sat and poured over her potions textbook, trying to remember the names and purposes of potions that had been and would be covered that term. Amortentia was to be taught sometime after the Christmas holiday.

Though Holly thought herself better than to think about love and romance, she couldn't help but wonder about Amortentia. Supposedly, its fumes were different for everyone. The potion smelled enticing, comprised of things a person was most attracted to.

Cedric probably smells like the quidditch pitch and honey, she thought to herself, No! Stop it, Tully. He's not interested in you. He's just very, very, extraordinarily good-looking. I can think about someone I have no chance with. That's what thoughts are for, she tried to reassure herself.

Holly's thoughts were cut short by a loud, cheery, "Oi! Tully! What are you doing up so late?"

Her head shot up from her textbook to see one of the Weasley twins.

"Oh."

"Don't get too excited." He said upon her reaction.

"What do you want?" She asked impatiently.

"To talk to you. And give you this." He pulled out a small package from behind his back.

"Is it going to explode if I touch it?" Holly looked at the package. It certainly looked harmless.

"No, I assure you, it will not explode. But I think you could use it."

Holly took the package timidly. It was just a load of napkins that were wrapped around what was obviously a plate.

"Bloody hell, is this roast and a pudding?" Holly gave him a questioning look.

"Yeah, well, we waited for you throughout lunch and dinner, but you didn't show up for either. I figured you'd be hungry so I snuck to the kitchens and brought you something. I don't know what you like so I just got—"

"—Thanks. This is great, actually. I'm starving. Er, sorry, but, which one are you again?"

He chuckled. "George."

"Thanks, George."

"Don't mention it. So what are you doing up so late?" He asked. He took the seat across from her.

"It's not that late is it? Must only be a little after midnight." Holly said, checking for a clock.

"It's almost one."

"Oh, then it's not terribly late." Holly waved it off.

"Are you joking?" George said incredulously. "You come off as the type who goes to bed and nine and wakes up at five. At least—"

"—That's what Angelina says? No, it's more like I close my curtains as soon as my prefect duties are over, and study until five. I rarely sleep, to be honest."

Holly ate the food George had brought her with great fervor.

"Merlin, someone would think you haven't eaten in days."

"I haven't."

"Are you mad? My brothers have told me to eat all I can while I'm here and at home, because nothing will ever taste as good."

"I've been busy." Holly offered.

"No one's too busy to eat."

"Maybe I am." Holly took a breath. "This is delicious. Thanks, again." She said after a moment.

"It's no problem. I figured you earned it after what happened with Fred."

"I still haven't wrapped my head around that. My mum is going to be so angry."

"What exactly happened?" George asked. "All Fred said was he was getting on your nerves, but he didn't tell me too much about it."

Holly groaned. "He was taking the mickey out of me about Cedric Diggory."

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry."

"He's the one who should be apologizing. I don't even know why I'm telling you this."

"Maybe it's because you realize I'm serious about wanting to be your friend."

Holly didn't know what to say. In her now sixth year, she had yet to really make any real friends. She knew some of it was her fault—it wasn't like she tried to get to know anyone either.

So she had to make a decision. Did she want to be George's friend?

"I can't say anything about my brother, but I figured that we don't know you at all—I don't know if anyone does—and I'd like to get to know you. I have a feeling you're cooler than everyone thinks."

Holly laughed. Yeah, me, cool, she thought.

"I mean, it's all up to you now. I'm not going to pull and prank on you, or whatever you're thinking. But I'm exhausted and really want to go to sleep. So if you're interested at all in being my friend, how about you sit with me for breakfast tomorrow?" George asked. He stood up, getting ready to leave.

Holly looked at her now empty plate. She _was_ interested in being George's friend.

Of all the people in Hogwarts, she thought. Ok, well a friend would be nice. But it's George.

Her mind sighed.

And breakfast…

She looked up to see George, who seemed as if he was about to give up.

"Yeah, ok." She finally answered. "I'll sit with you."

"Brilliant! Well, then I'll see you later, I suppose. Good night, Holly."

"Good night, George."


	4. Detention

Holly was awake much earlier than most of her classmates. The sun was a dimly lit lantern floating in the sea. A fog rested on the windows. Holly could just barely make out the outline of the Durmstrang ship.

She was meeting George for breakfast, but it was clear that was still a couple hours away. Her dorm mates were all fast asleep. Holly crept out of bed and started rummaging through her trunk until she found a brown package. Her mother gave her the package before the start of term. Based on the school supply list, Holly had a feeling of what it was. But now there was buzz about the Yule Ball—a Triwizard Tournament tradition—and Holly's suspicions of a set of dress robbers seemed even more plausible.

Not like anyone would ask me, she thought. Quickly, her thoughts turned to Cedric Diggory. It would be wonderful if he would ask her. She smiled despite knowing it was impossible.

Holly tore open the package to find—well, she wasn't quite sure what she found.

The material was rough, not silky like she expected. It felt almost like canvas. It was difficult to tell what color it was in the sparse light, but it appeared to be a grey-ish brown. Holly frowned, but figured it was bound to look better on someone. She took the robes into the bathroom to try on.

She slipped the robes over her head and found a literally huge problem: the garment must have been at least five sizes too large for her. Holly didn't understand. Her family was neither poor nor wealthy, but she knew they could afford much nicer dress robes than hat her mother packed her. She went to the mirror and checked out the outfit.

I would look better in a sack, she thought, an actual sack.

Repulsed by her image, she undressed quickly and took a shower. She tried to push the robes out of her mind.

No one is going to ask me to the Yule Ball, so I don't have to worry about wearing that, she chanted in her head. She turned off the shower and dried off her body.

Holly was dressed and ready still before her dorm mates woke. She packed her book bag and went down to the common room; she might as well do some homework while she waited for the rest of the castle to catch up.

It was two hours until George came down the stairs. Holly was engrossed in reading for next week's Charms lesson when he waved his hand in front of her face. She jumped back in surprise.

"Where you in here all night?" He asked, surprisingly chipper for the hour. Holly never would have expected either of the Weasley twins to be a morning person.

"No, I've just been here for a couple of hours this morning." Holly said. "Woke up early."

"How early could you have woken up? It's early now." George said incredulously.

"I told you, a couple of hours ago." She paused. "Is Fred joining us?" She asked with some trepidation. Holly was still rather sore about getting detention.

"No, we don't have any classes today. He'll want to sleep in a bit." George explained.

"But you woke up early?" Holly asked. The Weasley twins not doing something together was a baffling concept.

"I told you last night, we're having breakfast together. Angie told me you're always up early, so I figured I wouldn't keep you waiting. Though, I suppose I have if you've been awake all this time." George grinned. More Gryffindors filtered into the common room. George waved to someone behind Holly. She wanted to turn and see who he was waving at but she knew it must have been one of her dorm mates because she could feel an angry stare at the back of her head.

"Should we go?" George asked.

"Sure." Holly packed her books up and followed George out of the common room. She let him lead in conversation, which involved a lot of complaining about the quidditch season being cancelled.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for the tournament, but I'll miss quidditch." He said as he sat across from her. He immediately filled his plate with eggs and toast. Holly put a modest amount of yogurt in a bowl.

"Are you old enough to enter the tournament?" He asked.

"No, my birthday's in the summer." She answered as she used the spoon to dig around in her food.

"Me and Fred aren't, either. We're still going to try. Our birthdays' on April Fools." He smiled.

"Of course it is."

"You have any brothers or sisters?" George asked.

"My brother was Head Boy two years ago." She answered.

"Of course—James Tully. Excellent chaser. I didn't even put it together. He was a chaser for Ravenclaw, right?"

"Yeah."

"Was it weird, being in different houses?"

"Not really. We didn't talk much anyway."

George nodded his head.

"My parents expect me to be Head Girl next year," Holly went on, "Everyone in my family had been Head Boys and Girls. I was terrified I wouldn't even make prefect." She admitted.

"You didn't think you'd be prefect—you're practically the ideal student."

"Not like my family, though. They're all very naturally talented. All Ravenclaws, and passed every exam with minimal study. My brother and my dad were excellent Quidditch players. You might have heard of my dad—he played for Ireland when he was younger."

"Are you serious?" George's jaw dropped.

"I am. My brother was thinking about professional leagues, too, but felt too compelled to work at the Ministry. He works for international security." Holly said. She didn't know exactly what her brother did, but was sure she was in the right department. "And my mum writes for Witch Weekly, but she won three international witches beauty pageants."

"That's a lot to live up to."

"No bloody kidding." She scoffed.

As if on cue, an owl swooped in between George and Holly.

"Must be for you. I don't know that owl." He said.

"It's my brother's." Holly said, talking the envelope from the owl. It flew off. She opened it and removed the latter. George watched her read it.

"I have to go." She stood up quickly.

"Holly, what's wrong?"

"I have a class. I'll see you later." She said flatly and fled the Great Hall.

George was left rather confused. He knew there were no sixth year classes for another half hour, at least.

Though Holly ran off with the envelope, he noticed she had left the letter behind. Ever curious, George picked up the letter and read:

_Holly,_

_Mum, Dad, and I have heard about you receiving a detention. Though I'm sure whichever Weasley twin deserved to be struck,_

George had to pause and let out a soft chuckle at this. He read on:

_you should have kept yourself composed. You're a prefect. You should have more self-control._

_Mum is very cross and has plans to write your head of house for a further punishment. I have tried to convince her this is unnecessary and that the detention is enough. I hope she listens to me for your sake._

_Behave yourself._

_James_

George couldn't think of anything worse for Holly than the detention she already got. He pocketed the letter and headed back to the dormitory—he'd seek out Holly later, perhaps when she was less distraught.

"What's got your knickers in a bunch?" Fred asked lazily as George entered the boys' dormitory a bit more aggressively than intended.

"Nothing." George answered. He stuffed the letter from Holly's brother into his pocket.

"Then what have you there?" Fred asked. He sat up at the edge of his bed, still wearing his pajamas.

"Nothing."

"It is not nothing. What is it? Did Bagman owl us back?"

"No." George knew he couldn't hide anything from Fred. "I had breakfast with Holly." He answered.

"Went that bad? Well, we tried." Fred laughed.

"_I _tried. You got her a detention. It was going all right, actually. She's a bit shy, yeah, but she's kind of fun after a while."

"Then what's wrong if she's kind of fun?"

"Well, she had just started to get comfortable I think, when she got post." George took the note out of his pocket and handed it to Fred. Fred read it over quickly and cast it aside.

"I deserved to be struck!" Fred exclaimed incredulously.

"That's what you get out of it? You prat, her mum wants to write to McGonagall about it because a detention isn't enough."

"We would've given her a run for her money, then."

"Anyway, she got this letter and ran off. I think you should apologize to her."

Fred started to get a bit miffed. "It's not my fault her mum's a nutter."

"But it is your fault she got detention."

"Not really. If anything, it's her fault I got detention."

-0-

Holly was shaking the entire way to Professor McGonagall's office for her detention. So far, she had heard nothing from her mum, and assumed that everything was going to end up all right—except the fact that she still had detention. Holly didn't even know what she could be doing. How long are detentions?

Holly sat in one of the chairs in front of Professor McGonagall's desk. She knew she was early, but was hoping McGonagall would be there. Holly wanted to negotiate a little: it was her first detention, and it would really be helpful if it wasn't too long considering the amount of homework waiting for her in her dormitory.  
But, no, of course McGonagall wasn't back from dinner yet.  
The door behind her creaked open. Holly's heart beat faster. She had never been so nervous to see her head of house. She turned around in her seat, but instead of the Transfiguration professor, she saw Fred Weasley.

"No need to look so disappointed." Fred said. He took the seat next to her. "Any idea what she's going to have us do?"

Holly shook her head. "She's not back yet."

"How long have you been waiting, then?"

"I dunno, ten minutes?" Holly kept her eyes straight, staring at the empty desk chair.

"You must be real excited for detention."  
Holly could hear Fred's playful grin.

"Bugger off. This is your fault."

"How is this my fault? You hit me!"

"You wanted me to hit you!"

"Why would I want that?"

"Because you wanted to get me a detention. You just couldn't stand being near a prefect and had to start something."

"What, did you learn that from your brother? I get it- I'm such a bloody terror on the school I deserved to be struck." Fred laughed humorless at this. Holly's eyes widened. "George said you left this in the Great Hall." Fred took the note out and threw it at Holly.

"This is mine. You and your brother had no right to read it."

"Why? Because you're so much better than us because you're so bloody good and boring?"

Tears formed in Holly's eyes. "Because it's mine. Do you care that little about anyone else that you think you can just read people's mail?"

"Why is there a screaming match in my office?" Professor McGonagall entered.

Holly blushed. She hadn't realized she was yelling.

"It's nothing Professor," Fred said, "we were just having a laugh."  
Holly gave him a look similar to the one McGonagall was giving him.

"For your detention," she decided to go forward, "you're to clean the floor and desks in my classroom. Without magic."

Holly let out a sigh of relief. That wouldn't be too hard. Fred looked frustrated.

"Everything you need is in the room. I'll come to collect you in two hours." She dismissed them.

Fred followed Holly back to the classroom, where they found towels and buckets of water.

Holly went to work right away. She started washing the desks in the front row, deciding that the floor was best saved for last. Fred took her lead and started on the desks in the back.

The amount of gum under the desks was abhorrent. The worst part about Droobles best chewing gum was that it was much harder to clean than other chewing gums.

Six desks in, and Holly started to feel bad. She shouldn't have slapped Fred.

He deserved it, she thought. But I should know better. He shouldn't have gotten detention for my actions.

She peeled away another piece of gum.

But he and George read my letter! She argued with herself.  
That has nothing to do with me hitting him.

Holly continued to clean, finding that she felt better the more that she cleaned. She was halfway through the room when she decided to speak.

"I'm sorry." She said, just loudly enough for Fred to know she had said something. He wasn't as far as her in his desks.

"I said I'm sorry," Holly said loudly. She already felt frustrated that she had to repeat herself. "I shouldn't have hit you, and you shouldn't have gotten a detention for it."

Fred was surprised. He wasn't expecting an apology, especially since she found out about the letter. "Don't worry about it." He said tentatively. He had no idea how else to respond.

Holly nodded at him and went back to cleaning. She was almost ready to start on the floor.

She looked up at Fred for a moment, thinking maybe he'd apologize, too. But he was once again lost in cleaning desks.

The time went by quickly despite Fred being much slower than Holly. They were just finishing up the floor when McGonagall came in.

"Your best work yet, Mr. Weasley." She commented. "You're both dismissed. Miss Tully, however, may I have a word with you?"

Holly nodded.

"With just Miss Tully." McGonagall directed at Fred. He left the classroom.

Fred decided it would be friendly, even gentlemanly, if he waited for Holly. She shouldn't have to walk back to Gryffindor tower alone, and she did apologize. He leaned against the castle wall and tried to focus his ears on whatever Holly and McGonagall were talking about.

He heard the classroom door open and stood up straight, staring at his shoes. Holly rushed passed him. If Fred wasn't mistaken, she was crying.

"Holly?" He called after her, following her quick pace through the corridor.

"Sod off." Fred was right, she was definitely crying.

"What'd she say?" He asked.

"Why'd you wait for me?" She demanded. She stopped walking and faced Fred in the middle of the hallway. The fires of the torches seemed so much brighter, fueled by the anger radiating off Holly. Yet it felt much much darker.

"What?"

"Why'd you wait for me?"

"I thought it'd be nice if we didn't have to walk back alone." He answered.

Holly laughed. It was hallow. It cut holes in Fred's gut. "You? Nice?"

Fred was taken aback. He thought maybe things between he and Holly would be all right that detention was over and she apologized.

"My mum wrote Professor McGonagall. She's demanded that I do not attend any of the tournament events, and even worse- I'm suspended from my prefect duties until after the holidays."

It was a moment of vulnerability and hostility. It was a moment that Fred could have played right, and he and Holly could be friends. Perhaps if it was George who was there and not Fred, things would've ended well.

"Oh, what a problem. Less time for you to drool over Diggory." Fred said snidely.

Holly's nostrils flared. Fred thought he might burst into flames right then and there.

"You're a prick." She said shortly. "A great bloody prick." She turned and walked away.

Fred let her go, taking his time to return to the tower.


	5. mirrored lips

**First, a couple of things I want to note: ** **1\. This chapter is slightly longer than most of my chapters. I always try to keep a 2-2500 word count so I can keep track of how long I've spent on particular scenes. But I felt this one was warranted.** **2\. It's going to feel like a lot of time is spent in GoF, but once I get through the Yule Ball and Christmas, it's only a couple of chapters until summer. There won't be too many OotP chapters, and the bulk of the story will be HBP, DH, and post-war.** **3\. YES, I KNOW. Angelina is completely OOC, and Katie Bell is a year too old and OOC as well. But this will all be amended soon, I promise, and they can go back to being their usual lovely selves. There's also more at play here- how much is it that Angelina is Holly's antagonist as opposed to how much Holly believes Angelina is her antagonist,** **4\. If you are of age and like lemons, check out my latest story, ****Weasley's Wizard Whippings****. It's short, simple, dirty, and fun.** **5\. Thank you for reading! Please favorite/follow/review if you can! Thanks!** **-alienoctopus**

* * *

The next couple of weeks went by so quickly that Holly barely had time to cope with the disappointment in herself she felt. She steered clear of the Goblet of Fire, missing the Weasley twins famously putting their names in and losing the Dumbledore's age line. She missed the picking of the champions, in which Harry Potter was an additional champion. All Holly was aware of was the excitement of the first task and the Yule Ball.

It was the morning of the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Hogwarts was buzzing with excitement—no one knew what the task would entail. Rumors of fighting off trolls, duels against Dumbledore, and discerning cloths from levifolds had been floating around for what felt like ages. The students of all three schools were awake earlier than usual, riled up to finally find out what would happen to their classmates.

All except for Holly, who, for once, stayed in her bed wishing for the sunlight to simply go away. She folded her pillow over her ears to muffle to sounds of her dorm mates talking about the first task.

I'm not even _interested_ in going, she thought to herself, there are far better things to do than—her thoughts paused- witnessing history.

Holly let out a groan that was widely ignored by everyone else in the room. Finally, after what felt like forever, they left and Holly was alone with the silence, and her bed. For the first time in her life, she decided to sleep during the day.

So Holly slept. A few hours passed. The crowd for the first task had amassed a loud presence on the grounds—so loud that Holly couldn't sleep any longer. She showered. She dressed. She noticed that the tower felt absolutely lonely when no one was in it. Holly didn't even like her dorm mates and was starting to miss them. She started to think of what she could do next. Maybe she could sneak into the boys' dormitories and charms the Weasley twins' mattresses to nip at their feet at night. Holly grinned at the thought. Would it be obvious which beds were theirs? Perhaps there'd be little red hairs sticking out of the pillows—or maybe they'd have their names carved into the posts. Fred and George definitely seemed the type to do something like that. Holly thought of all the things she could do: freezing charms on their comforters, warming charms on their pillows, little rainclouds that sat above their beds that were near impossible to get rid of. She laughed to herself, reveling in the imagined revenge. But she shook her head and the thoughts went away. Holly couldn't risk getting in trouble again.

Holly grabbed her Artihmancy and Transfigurations textbooks and went down to the common room. She tended to the fire—the tower felt colder when it was empty. She got to work, the arithmetic principles of transfiguration, proving them over and over again. She was so invested; she failed to notice someone on a broomstick whiz past the window. She didn't even notice the dragon flying after him.

Holly remained busy until the portrait hole opened. She couldn't stop her head from shooting up to see who it was. To her dismay, she found the Weasley twins.

"Holly, you sure missed it! Harry had to get past a dragon—oh, it was incredible. Are you staying for the party? I can tell you about it." This had to be George talking.

Holly collected her books and kept her eyes on her shoes as she stood and walked past the twin. She decided the library would be more enjoyable for her than a party.

Over the next several hours, Holly spent her time pouring over her earlier work. When she grew tired of that, she wandered the library, skimming over books that caught her fancy. Finally, she grew too tired and had to return to the common room. Her steps dragged beneath her, fearing the scenes of fun everyone else was having. A small part of her wished she had fun with everyone. She finally entered the room and groaned. Cups, plates, napkins, food, and streamers—they were littered all over. She had half a mind to leave it. But she felt a responsibility to clean it despite being temporarily stripped of her prefect duties.

She was able to get all of the trash into a bin with a few spells rather quickly. She came across a strange looking stain, and upon examining it, learned it was vomit. She suppressed a gag and scorgified it. She finally turned her attention to the food, easily the most difficult to take care of, but was able to package it after a good half hour. When Holly finished tidying up the common room, she found herself overwhelmingly exhausted. She sat on the one chair that was free of passed out Gryffindors and quickly fell asleep.

Only a few hours later, Fred and George sleepily tumbled down the stairs, knowing they should clean up the remnants of the part before McGonagall would see it. But what met their eyes was not the mess they expected. The common room, aside from the small mass of sleeping students, was clean. The food was wrapped up. It was almost difficult to tell there was a rager just hours before.

"Who do y'reckon did it?" George asked.

"Hermione, maybe?" Fred posited. They surveyed the room to see if there was a clue as to who helped them out. George's eyes stopped when he spotted a sleeping figure.

"It was Holly." He said.

"No bloody way." Fred said when he saw her, too. "Of course it wasn't. Why would she help us?"

"Probably because she's a decent person."

"Probably because she's a bloody goody-two-shoes."

After a moment, they decided they might as well go back to sleep—their work was done before they woke.

* * *

George had wanted to thank Holly for cleaning up, but was having a hard time getting a chance to talk to her. She was clearly avoiding the common room, and whenever he saw her at meals, she fled the Great Hall as soon as he caught her eye. It wasn't until after Herbology that Friday that he got the chance.

"Oi! Holly!" He called after her as she left greenhouse two. He could tell she tried to speed up her pace, but he ran to catch up with her.

"What do you want?" She asked, cold and exasperated when she realized she wouldn't be able to get away.

"I know you were the one who cleaned up after our little party." She said.

"Ok."

"I haven't gotten a chance to thank you for it. So, erm," he scratched the back of his head, "Thanks."

"It was nothing. I couldn't leave the common room like that."

"I know, but still, thanks." He paused. "So where are you off to?"

Holly was thankful she actually had somewhere to go.

"The library." She smiled, sure George wouldn't want to follow her there.

"Brilliant!" George exclaimed, clasping his hands together. "I'm headed there, too."

Holly's insides froze. She didn't know what to do. The thought of running to the girls' lavatory and not come out for a few hours sounded enticing.

"C'mon, Holly. I'm not so bad. It's not like I'm You-Know- Who." George said when he saw apprehension glow from her body.

"We were getting on fine the other day."

Holly stopped walking. Brief rage warmed her veins.

"Fine! Until you stole my letter!" She shouted at him. It took all of her abilities to keep from hexing George right there.

"What are you talking about?" George asked tentatively. He didn't know Holly knew he took the letter.

"When we met for breakfast. The letter I got. You took it and I'm sure you shared a laugh over it with Fred."

It dawned on George. "I didn't think he'd say anything to you."

"Clearly, you don't know him as well as you thought. But that's beside the point, George Weasley!" He voice got even louder. "You still took it and showed Fred. Whether or not I found out or not, what kind of friend does that make you?"

"Listen, Holly, I'm sorry. I didn't think and I didn't know all of this would happen. I really am, truly sorry. Now can I please come with you to library?"

"Fine." Holly gave in. "But if you give me even half a reason to never talk to you again, I will _never. Talk. To. You. Again._" She emphasized.

"I won't even give you a quarter of a reason."

I almost doubt that, Holly thought.

She gave George a short nod and they continued to the library.

"I had no idea that you were actually good at Herbology." Holly commented as she and George started talking about their last class.

"I think it's interesting that people can grow their own potion ingredients." He said.

"That sounds like you have dangerous plans."

"Oh, I'm harmless. The potions, however…" He laughed. Holly smiled lightly.

They sat down at a table in the library, across from Hermione.

"Hey, Hermione." Holly whispered. The younger girl was lost in a book, but she didn't look too annoyed to be disturbed.

"Hi, Holly." Hermione greeted quietly.

"What's going on with this?" Holly asked. She tilted her head to the right. George followed the signal and saw Victor Krum, who was watching Hermione intently with a closed book in his lap.

"I really don't know or understand," Hermione answered, "this has been all week."

George laughed a little too loudly for a library, which earned a cross look from both girls.

"I think he might like you, Hermione." He said coyly.

Hermione only huffed in response and returned to her book.

Holly took out her Divination textbook and started taking notes. George only watched, completely at a loss of what to do. He had lied to Holly when he said he was headed to the library. He had no reason to actually be there. Luckily for him, neither Holly nor Hermione noticed he was just staring into space, bored out of his mind. He wasn't pulled out of his daydreaming state until he heard Hermione and Holly whispering.

"I really don't know enough about languages. I would talk to someone who studies Care of Magical Creatures. Maybe Hagrid might know something?' Holly offered.

"I don't know if Harry would want to ask Hagrid." Hermione said.

"You could ask Angelina." George said.

"Angelina Johnson?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. She's in the N.E.W.T. class."

Holly had a sour look on her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"You and Angelina get on all right?"

"Yeah, she's really great. Smart and all that."

"She's never been too great to me." Holly said bitterly.

"You'd have to get to know her."

Holly nodded stiffly.

"In fact, if we go back to the common room now," George closed Holly's textbook for her, "you can get to know her over a nice game of Exploding Snap."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I have work to do."

"You're doing work all of the time. I think you can take some time to play a game."

Holly didn't answer.

"Hey—you agreed to me and found out I'm not so bad."

"It's only been two hours."

"I've been sitting here for two hours?!"

Holly grinned.

"Come on, Holly. If it's terrible, you can go up to your dormitory." He looked at her. Her face still read 'no.' "I'll keep Fred in line."

"If you can do that, I'll talk up all of your friends." Holly laughed.

"It's a tough job, but I think I can handle it." George said.

So Holly packed up her things and left with George.

"And you actually get along with Angelina and them?" She asked along the way.

"Yeah—Angie's great. She knows the things she likes and doesn't take anything from anyone. She's a damn fine chaser, too."

"Oh." Was all Holly could respond.

"You guys don't get along?"

"No, she's actually sort of rude to me, I suppose. I mean, most of the girls tend to ignore me, but she'll sometimes go out of her way to say something mean."

"I never realized that. It's a bit surprising, really. She's not really like that."

"I'm sure." Holly said in fake assurance.

"Give her a chance. Once she realizes that you're not as bad as she thinks, she'll lay off."

They entered the Gryffindor common room, which was sparse for a Friday afternoon.

"I thought you had plans to play Exploding Snap?" Holly said when she didn't see any of George's friends in the common room.

"We are, but first I've got to get Fred and Lee and we'll all go down for dinner."

"Oh." Holly didn't know dinner was going to be involved.

"If you don't want to talk to anyone, you can just pay attention to your food. Now, I'll go get them, and you'll wait here, yeah?"

"Sure."

George bounded up the boys' staircase. Holly shifted uncomfortably as she stood near the entrance of the common room. Luckily, it didn't take to long for George to retrieve his friends with the promise of food.

"Oh, Holly's joining us." George said when they got to the entrance. "C'mon, Holly!"

The boys talked about making pasties that turned people into animals on the way down. Holly stayed quiet.

"If you were to turn into an animal, which animal would you want to be? I think I'd want to be a dog. Lay around, get loved by people all the time. Sounds great to me." Lee asked.

"Dragon." Fred and George said simultaneously.

"I'm not surprised. How about you, Holly?" Lee asked.

Holly was always skeptical of Lee, as he was a friend with the twins. But so far, he was really kind and open to her despite only knowing her for a few minutes or so.

"I don't know. A flobberworm, or something?"

George burst out in riotous laughter. "Did y'hear that? A flobberworm! That's hilarious. Be serious, though, what kind of animal would you want to be?"

Holly bit her lip. She was sort of being serious. She never thought of which animal she'd want to be if she had a choice, so she went with one she thought she could be. "Maybe a bird?" She said meekly.

"What kind of bird?" Lee asked.

"Just any old bird. It doesn't matter, does it? Fly around or whatever."

"You seem so dedicated to become this vague bird that flies around or whatever." Fred commented.

"I am, actually. It's all I've ever wanted. A little bird flittering in and out." She said a little strongly. Fred looked taken aback.

"Holly, you didn't see the first task!" George interrupted.

"I didn't."

"Lee's great at telling stories, why don't you tell her? He asked Lee.

So Lee told Holly the story of how Harry Potter retrieved a golden egg from a Hungarian Horntail via broomstick.

Before Holly noticed the time, the four of them were back in the common room, playing Exploding Snap with Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell.

Aside from the occasional dirty look from the girls, Holly was enjoying herself.

"Are you cheating?" She asked George, who had yet to lose a round.

"Don't be silly, Holly," He flashed her a smile, "Everyone knows you can't cheat in Exploding Snap."

"What, just because you're losing means someone's cheating?" Angelina asked.

"No!" Holly cried out defensively. "I just assumed—he's won every game." She muttered. She immediately felt less comfortable, carefully flipping her cards over before they exploded in her hands.

"You know, we have some leftover firewhisky in our trunks." Fred said suggestively to the group.

"That sounds like a lot of fun, actually." Katie said, playing out her hand only to end in small flames.

"Well, I'm in, how about you, Angie?" George asked.

"I'll join you." She smiled.

"Why are we still down here, then!" Lee exclaimed, cleaning up the cards quickly.

"Would you like to join us, Holly?" George asked.

"Erm, no thanks." She declined. "I'm going to stay down her for a while, catch up on my Charms." She said.

"That's all right. Well, if you change your mind, we'll be upstairs." He said, following the rest of his friends up.

George felt guilty leaving Holly behind. He thought she was getting on with everyone just fine, and until the end of the game, seemed to be having fun.

They broke out the firewhisky, each of them taking sips in shifts from the remaining two bottles.

After a while, he started to feel a little fuzz in his head. Looking at his friends, all of them laughing at nothing, or maybe something stupid he or Fred said, he could tell he was the best off of all of them.

Before Katie could even suggest playing the Muggle party game "Spin the Bottle," her and Lee were snuggled up in his bed, not to be seen again for the rest of the night.

"Well, I guess it's just us three." George said. "Shame Holly didn't want to join us."

"What is it with you and her?" Angelina asked. "You've barely spoken to her before and now you're friends?"

"Well, it started with a plan to be friends with a prefect, but it turned out that Holly's pretty cool." George explained.

Angelina snorted. "I doubt that. I've been in her dorm for six years and she's never been anything close to cool." She said.

"You just have to try and get to know her."

Angelina laughed but didn't respond.

"Your hair is so pretty." Fred said, drunkenly, picking up a piece if Angelina's hair and dropping it. George watched the action intently, sobering up as soon as it happened.

"Yeah?" Angie asked.

"Yeah. _You're_ so pretty." He continued.

George couldn't believe what he was seeing—the utmost betrayal was happening right before his eyes. Just as quickly as it happened with Katie and Lee, Fred and Angie were entangled. He watched for a moment, dumbfounded, and decided it was best if he didn't stay in the dormitory that night. He didn't want to watch his double kiss the girl he fancied. He left for the common room.

"You're still awake?" He asked when he saw Holly by the fire.

"Hm? Oh. Hi, George." Holly responded, not looking up from her Charms textbook.

"How many times can you read our Charms book?"

"As many times as I need to know it." She said. "I thought you'd be up there all night."

"Things got to be too much for me."

"That's why I've never drank firewhisky."

"_That's_ why?"

"Well, that and I've never had the opportunity."

George laughed. "Fred and Angie are up there."

"I know."

"No," he said, "He's up there, you know, with her. Snogging." He clarified.

"_Oh_. Ew." She said.

"I can't believe he did that to me." George said, still floating on his firewhisky buzz.

"Did what? Kissed Angelina—oh! You fancy her, then?" Holly realized what happened.

"Yeah, I fancy her."

"And Fred's kissing her?"

George nodded.

"Weird. Does Fred know?"

"Pretty sure he knows he's kissing her." George said snidely.

"No, you prat, does he know you fancy her?"

"He's my twin. We know everything about each other."

Holly nodded. "I'm sorry, George. I can't even imagine."

"Just tell me about Charms. Get my mind off it until I fall asleep."

Holly did that, and it didn't take long for George to drift off. She continued reading to herself until she fell asleep on the opposite side of the couch.


	6. about those colors, then

**I'm trying to get through the Yule Ball stuff as soon as I can because, as an adult, sometimes all that teenage drama gets so grating. I know this is starting to seem like a George/OC story, but trust me, we will get to Fred/OC. At some point. In the not-too-near future. In fact, Fred and Holly aren't really going to get along for a while. Oops. :)** **Anyway, thanks for reading/reviewing/favoriting/following!**

* * *

Holly had made a point to avoid George's friends, but she wasn't avoiding George. In fact, she had been going out of her way to see George. Taking breaks from her heavy study schedule, actually eating breakfast (thought her mother would be glad to know they were modest breakfasts) with him, as most days Fred slept in, Holly was starting to enjoy her time with George. He wasn't always the ostentatious, obnoxious, rude half of the Weasley twins he seemed. He was actually quite intelligent; at least in the subjects he received his O.W.L.s in, and was able to be funny without hurting anyone's feelings. It was nice, actually, having a friend.

"I'm thinking of asking Angelina to the Yule Ball." George said one morning.

"What about Fred?" Holly asked.

"Why would I ask Fred to the ball?"

"No—aren't he and Angelina, you know?"

"That's the thing; I don't know. He hasn't said anything and I don't see them together. So I think I'll just ask her." George said nervously.

"How can you and Fred be twins and have no idea if you fancy the same girl?" Holly asked incredulously.

George could only laugh in response. The truth was, he didn't really know what had caused the rift between him and his twin. Ever since everything with Bagman happened, things hadn't been quite right—they hadn't been on the same page. He sighed.

"I've got to meet Lee. I told him I'd toss around a Quaffle with him for a bit. You don't mind walking back to the common room alone, do you?" He asked.

"Dunno, I might get lost."

"I'm sure you'll manage. I'll see you later, maybe? At least tomorrow."

"We'll see. I'll probably be in the library this afternoon, and I've got some astronomy I might do tonight. I haven't decided. See you, George."

They parted at the entrance to the Great Hall. Holly walked briskly back to Gryffindor tower, planning on some leisure reading before Potions class. She made it through the portrait hole just fine—but when she got into the common room, something stood in her way.

"Oh thank Merlin. I was taking a chance that it was you coming through."

Holly was confused for a second. She could have sworn she just saw George leave the castle. But it dawned on her.

"Fred?"

"Who else would it be?"

George, obviously, she thought.

"Oh." Fred said, realizing her confusion.

"So why are you thanking Merlin that I'm the one that came through the portrait hole?" She asked, a little intimidated by Fred.

"I wanted to talk to you." He said honestly.

"Ok." She said slowly.

"Why is George avoiding me?" He asked quickly.

"What?" Holly had to let herself laugh at the question, rather, how Fred had asked it: fast and vulnerable.

"You've been hanging out with him a lot lately, and he's been avoiding me. I was wondering if you knew why because I've been wracking my brain and can't figure it out."

"I really don't know. Sorry." Holly tried to pass it off. Why would I know the reason George's avoiding Fred, she thought. But then she realized it. "_Oh_."

"Oh? Oh means you figured it out. Spit it out, then." Fred said demandingly.

"Well, I dunno, it's not really my business to tell." She said.

"I won't tell him you said anything. I just need to know."

"Then, I think, well—"

"—Come on, woman!"

"He fancies Angelina!" She said, maybe too loudly for the common room. Holly immediately slapped her hand over her mouth.

Fred laughed. "What would that have to do with him being sore at me?"

"Because he thinks you fancy her."

Fred continued laughing. "Me? Fancy Angelina? Angie's great and all, but I don't fancy her."

"Well, George said the two of you were snogging and he's not really happy about it, especially because he wants to ask her to the Yule Ball."

"I would've never even thought it was a problem. Thanks." Fred said.

"Just don't tell George I told you. Oh, I feel awful for telling you. It's all his things to tell."

"I won't. I won't even say anything. I only wanted to know why he's been cross with me. I'll tell him my plans for the ball and maybe he'll understand I'm not interested in Angie."

"Good luck, then." Holly said shortly, starting to make her wait towards the dormitory.

"Thanks, Holly." Fred said with sincerity. Holly didn't know how to respond. She didn't. She just kept walking.

But Fred didn't mind. He was happy that he finally had an answer.

* * *

Since their conversation about George, Fred warmed up to Holly. She wasn't nearly as uptight as she was when she had prefect duties to attend to, and actually turned out to be quite funny when she was comfortable.

Fred noticed that she and George were rather close despite not having known each other for very long. He was kinder to her than he was ever to anyone else. Though Fred was beginning to realize that Holly wasn't a bad presence to have around, he couldn't quite understand why George wanted her around. She wasn't technically a prefect, not until January would she have those privileges again, so that wasn't it. Perhaps he never will.

One night, while looking through their collection of Chocolate Frog cards, Lee asked: "Who are you taking to the Yule Ball?"

"Haven't asked anyone yet." The twins said.

"I asked Katie today," Lee said with a big stupid grin on his face. "She said yes."

"I'm surprised, Lee. I would've thought your girlfriend would say no." Fred joked.

George thought this would be a perfect time to test the waters with his twin. "I'm not sure who I'll ask yet. How about you?"

"I dunno. I've come to realize we don't know enough girls." Fred said. "Alicia?" He said.

"She's going with someone." Lee said.

"Who?" George asked.

"Dunno. Katie told me that Alicia has a date."

"Well, that just leaves—"

"—Holly." Fred interrupted. "I'll ask Holly." He said.

George laughed. "She's not allowed to go. Someone's already asked her and she had to say no."

"Who asked her?"

"Roger Davies, I think."

"Ha! I'm far more convincing that Roger Davies. I'll get Holly to go." Fred said confidently.

George nodded. "Good luck."

A tapping sound on the window disrupted the conversation. All three heads turned towards the noise and saw an angry looking owl flying outside.

"Bagman." Fred mouthed at George. "That's for us." He said to Lee.

"Who's owling you at this time?" Lee asked, opening the window for the bird.

"Doesn't matter." George said, taking the letter off the owl, who pecked him and flew back out.

"We'll be right back." Fred said. The twins left the dormitory to read their letter in complete privacy.

* * *

George was in the Great Hall with Holly and Fred. He was happy to see the two get along—he never thought it would be possible. But he knew if Fred gave Holly a chance not to be the prim prefect she seemed to be, and if she gave Fred the chance not to be the, well, asshole he tended to be, they'd get along.

"Harry and Ron don't have dates yet." Fred said, grinning.

"Neither do you." Holly said. "You'll probably need a love potion for someone to say yes, though, so you better get brewing."

Fred still smiled. "Sod off." He said jokingly. "You're not going with anyone yet, either, so maybe I should brew a double batch."

"I can't go, you know that. It's your fault, really. But I've already been asked."

"I heard Davies asked you."

"And I had to say no."

"Saving yourself for Diggory probably won't pay off."

Holly gave him a sour look as her cheeks flared. "Shove it." She said, but not jokingly like the conversation was going. George looked at Fred worriedly—he'd never convince Holly to go to the Yule Ball with him if he kept that up.

And then it happened, as if it were slow motion. George could barely process what was going on. He saw Fred look down the table at Angie. He saw Fred's mouth move. He saw Holly look at him sympathetically. All he knew was that Angie said, "Yes."

"I've got to go." George excused himself. He left the Great Hall quickly, before Fred could even think about following him.

Holly was staring at Fred furiously.

"What?" He asked.

"Do you have any idea what you just did?" She tried to keep her voice down.

Fred's eyes widened. "I can fix this. I can fix it. I'll just tell Angie and then—"

"—Fred, you can't ask a girl out and then tell her she should go with your brother instead. She said yes to you, not to George."

Fred didn't know what to do.

"What do I do, then?" He asked.

"Search me. All I know is that George is upset because you can't think for two seconds. You just let every little impulse drive you like you always do. You can't even stop yourself from being an arse when it comes to your brother."

"Oi, don't turn this into a thing where you get mad at me. We were getting on fine."

"We _were_ putting up with each other because you're George's brother and I'm his friend. We weren't ever friends, Fred."

Holly got up and left in a huff.

Fred was baffled by what had just happened. He asked out the girl his twin wanted to ask out, so now George was mad at him, and the girl he was going to ask out was raving mad—but, she's always raving mad, really, he had to reason with himself.

* * *

"I can't believe him." George yelled when he found Holly. He slammed his things on the table. All the eyes in the library were now on him and Holly.

"Hello, George." Holly said, not taking her eyes off her book. "You can't be loud in here, you know." She chastised him.

"I don't bloody care." He said, but his voice was significantly quieter.

"I'm sorry Fred did that to you. He's an arse." She said, finally closing her book.

George sighed. "He didn't know, I guess. It's only," he paused, "Well, we were talking about the ball the other night, just so I could get a feel for how he feels about her. But he said he was going to try and ask you and—"

Holly interrupted him with a laugh. "Fred? Ask me? Even if I were allowed to go, hell, even if I wanted to go, I doubt I'd say yes to Fred."

"You don't want to go?" George asked, surprised.

"I mean," Holly thought about this, "I've got these hideous dress robes—"

"—So does Ron, and he's trying to secure a date."

"Well, mine don't even fit me. I'm not the type to want to go to balls, I doubt I'd enjoy it. And Roger Davies was the only person to ask me, and he's attractive but," she sighed wistfully.

"He's no Cedric Diggory." George finished for her.

"I wish you two would stop with that." She said.

"It's hard not to when you stare at him constantly."

"Can you blame me, though? He's good-looking, skilled at quidditch, intelligent—"

"—Would you go to the ball if he asked you?" George asked. Holly, though she hadn't known George for too long, knew him well enough to know when an idea had struck him.

"I can't go, though." She said, slowly.

"Would you break that rule if he did?"

Holly thought on this. Cedric Diggory was a perfect example of someone her mother would want her to date. She couldn't help but want to be, and actually be, attracted to him. "Yes." She said finally.

"All right." George cleared his throat. "I'm good-looking, skilled at quidditch, and intelligent. Why don't you go with me?"

Holly was taken aback. "George, you know I can't." She said.

"Suppose you could."

"I-I guess I would. We're friends and all—"

"—Then say yes."

"What?"

"Forget about rules, Holly. It's some ruddy thing your mum said. When has that helped you? Your mum wanted you to be a prefect, so you became a prefect and you hate it. She wants you to be the best in our class, and you study so much that I don't really know when you eat or sleep. Don't listen to your mum for one night and actually have some fun. So, I ask again, will you go to the ball with me?"

Holly was dumbfounded, surprised, even shell-shocked. She had no idea how to respond.

"My dress robes are terrible." She said after a breath.

"Are you not a witch? Transfigure them!"

"That could ruin them if I do it wrong."

"I doubt you'll do it wrong. So, what color are you thinking?"

"I haven't even said yes."

"Oh, that. Are you going to say yes?"

Holly hesitated. "Oh, all right." She gave into George's playfully pleading eyes.

"Brilliant. About those colors, then."


	7. twilight

**I think this is going to work out that there are only two chapters left during GoF. After that, I'm going to have 2-3 summer chapters, and then I'm going to take a break from this story (not for too long!). I want to get ****Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night**** updated, and I have another story that I'm interested in started. **

**I'm almost wondering if I should just write it now because it's just stuck inside me and I need it to get out.**

**Book suggestion: ****The Magic Toyshop**** by Angela Carter.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review/favorite/follow!** **-alienoctopus**

* * *

"Are we going to tell anyone we're going to the ball together?" George asked Holly as he followed her in the library. She returned a book to its shelf.

"I don't think it's a good idea. Knowing my luck, word will get out to my mum and she'll have my skin as a rug."

George scrunched up his face. "That sounds disgusting."

"I'll become a family heirloom." She laughed, putting away the final book.

The two exited the library together and started to walk to Gryffindor tower.

"Have you had any luck with your dress robes?" George asked, shortening his stride so holly could keep up with him.

"I was able to shrink it properly. It fits very well, now—still modest, mind you, but it fits. I wasn't able to get it the color I wanted, however."

"What color did you want?"

"Blue. I think it came out a little more grey than blue, probably just what's left of the original material, I suppose. It's not horrible, really, only not exactly what I wanted."

"I'm sure you'll look stunning. Although, I don't know if anyone will even notice the color of your dress when I'll be there." George puffed out his chest and tossed his hair.

"Oh, get stuffed." Holly said playfully.

George smiled warmly at her as they approached the common room entrance.

"I guess I'll see you for the ball tomorrow, then?" George said when they entered.

"I guess so. Should we meet somewhere? Here, maybe?"

"Yeah—yeah, I think here."

"Good night, then." Holly left for her dormitory.

George went to his own dormitory to find Fred and Lee laughing outrageously.

"Where have you been?" Fred asked when he saw his twin.

"Library." George said shortly.

"What's at the library?" Fred asked.

"Holly Tully's at the library." Lee grinned at George.

"Oh, shove it." George said.

"Starting to talk like her, too?" Fred said, trying to joke around.

"I said shove it. Merlin, she's just a friend."

"Are you taking her to the ball?" Lee asked.

George sat down on his bed and removed his shoes.

"No. No, she can't go." Fred answered for him. George raised his eyebrows.

"Then who are you taking? I think we've all got dates." Lee said.

"I'm going stag, of course. 'less I can find a proper date by tomorrow, which I doubt. You know me—I wouldn't go with anyone who isn't going to be the prettiest bird there. Besides, the girl I wanted to ask was asked by someone else first."

"Who was that?" Lee asked. Fred turned bright red and immediately turned all of his attention to the nearest thing—which happened to be the pillow on his four-poster. He picked it up and tried to fluff it repeatedly.

"Angelina." George said flatly. Lee knew immediately not to press any further. The boys got ready for bed, trying to avoid the excitement rising in their stomachs. In just one day, they will be dancing closely with girls, feeling their skin and their hips—despite the pomp of the Yule Ball, all three were looking forward to it.

* * *

"He's so mad at me. I can tell. He came in last night and I could feel how mad he is at me." Fred said as soon as he sat down next to Holly for lunch.

Holly opened her mouth to say something, but Fred interrupted her before she could get a word out. "I know, I know, we're not friends and all—whatever. I don't have anyone to talk to about this. You saw him last night, right? What did he say about me?"

"Merlin's beard, slow down. George was sore at you last night?" She asked.

"I think so. I mean, he came into our dormitory and Lee asked him who he was taking to the ball, and George told him someone had already asked Angelina and he didn't say a word to me!"

"Fred, I don't know what you expected. You _knew_ he wanted to go with Angelina. I told you that. You could've asked anyone—you could have asked me, for Circe's sake—but you asked the one girl your twin wanted to ask. He should be mad at you."

"Did he say anything about me to you?"

"No, he just talked about his date for the ball." Holly fought a grin.

"He told us he's going stag."

"I don't think so. He definitely told me he had a date."

"Who?"

"I dunno."

"Are you sure? He told us last night that unless he can find the prettiest bird at the last minute, he was going stag."

Holly blushed. "Well, I suppose he found someone, then."

Fred groaned and started eating his lunch, rather noisily, and still next to Holly.

"So you're really not going?" Fred asked through a mouthful.

"Really."

"You're eating like you're going." He grinned at her, food stuck in his teeth. Holly looked at her plate, sparse and barely touched.

"We'll I've spent my time talking to you, haven't I?"

Fred shrugged and finished his food. "Walk you back?" He offered. He was surprised that, though Holly seemed agitated at first, but stuck through and listened to him.

"Can you do me a favor?" He asked, breaking the silence between them as they walked.

"Hmm?"

"Next time you talk to George, can you try and make him not angry with me?"

Holly snorted. "I'm not sure that I'm the best person to get you into George's good graces."

"And why not?"

"Well, we're not exactly friends, are we? How can I champion you to your own twin and seem serious?"

"Then maybe we should be friends. For George's sake, of course."

"Maybe. For George's sake."

They stood in silence in front of the portrait hole.

"Are you going to give me the password?" The Fat Lady implored, her voice shrill and tired.

"Oh, right." Fred said before he gave the password. The Fat Lady held her head high and swung open.

"I suppose I best be getting ready." Holly said without thinking.

"Ready for what? You're not going to the ball."

"Ready for a nice quiet night in, I mean."

"Ri-ight. Then, you'll try and talk to George for me?"

"I can't promise anything will come of it, but I will try." Holly muttered. It was almost uncomfortable, being alone with Fred, who had been jittery the entire time.

How are two people as close as the Weasley twins not able to talk about the girls they fancy? She shook her head in disbelief.

But then another thought popped in her head: George had said Fred wanted to try and ask her to the ball. Did that have any influence of Fred talking to her? She laughed loudly. All Fred wanted was for George to forgive him, and if it meant that he had to talk to Holly, then he'd do it.

Holly laid out her dress robes, now a peculiar blue and fitted to her shape, on her bed and then just sat there, on her bed.

She looked at her dorm mates, none of whom noticed she even had robes out, and felt a pang of jealousy. Not one of them had to fix their own hair or apply their own makeup. They were all so beautiful, all smiles and waves of hair and laughter. Holly ran her hand through her own hair—how did her mum style it for her? Which pieces went up and down and curled? She brushed her hair, using a hand mirror to watch herself. With the help of a few hairpins, she pinned one side of her hair to keep it out of her face, but ultimately left most of her hair down. She looked at herself in her mirror. Do I look all right? She thought, dropping the looking glass back on the bed.

Applying makeup was something Holly felt a little more comfortable with. A simple makeup was something nearly every sixth year girl was familiar with applying—it was normal that Holly wore it just as often as her peers. She lined her eyes in black and splashed an almost sheer pearl on her lids to accentuate the blue of her eyes. With a swipe of shimmery blush and a smack of cherry balm, she felt like she was ready to dress and go. She studied her dorm mates once again—they were close to being ready to go. She decided it would be a good idea to leave the dormitory right behind them. All attention would be focused on the group of beautiful girls and Holly and George would be able to sneak off the ball without any questions. Holly dressed quickly, almost without even giving herself a once over. She felt her insides squirm around inside of her—as if her guts were all turned to jelly. She closed the curtains on her four-poster and took a breather. It's just George. It's just a silly dance. She reassured herself, but realized a moment too late that the girls had already left, defeating her idea of following close behind them in order to go unnoticed. She shot up out of her bed and hoped that perhaps everyone will have left already and her and George could trail behind.

* * *

"So, who is your date?" Lee asked George as they waited in the common room for their dates.

"I never said I had one." George said.

"Really?" Fred piped up. "I had heard you did."

"So you did." George said, unwilling to give up any information.

"I'd say, no matter who our dates are, they're some pretty lucky birds," Lee said as he pulled his sleeves to his wrists. "We're looking rather sharp, if you ask me."

"Are we?" The twins asked in unison. They stood facing each other and ran their hands through their hair, mimicking each other's movements as if to look in a mirror. The only difference was that Fred's grin was a hair wider—he and George haven't been joking around nearly enough this year and it felt good to goof off.

"Here come the girls." Lee interrupted them. The twins turned toward the girls' staircase. The sixth and seventh year girls walked down together, talking amongst themselves too much to notice the jaws drop around the common room. George couldn't take his eyes off Angelina, who looked like royalty in her flowing, gold dress robes. Her hair was in sleek braids and her skin shone like the sunset. She walked down the stairs gracefully and attached herself to his brother's arm. George's stomach knotted with jealousy.

"You look beautiful, Angie." He choked out before Fred could say anything.

"You look great, too George." She smiled at him. His spirit rose in his chest. He could die in her lips.

Fred coughed jokingly. "And you look wonderful, as well, Freddie." She said to her date. George's spirit sunk back into the depths of his body.

"Shall we go, or are you waiting for someone?" Fred asked.

"George, you have a date? Is she a Gryffindor?" Angelina asked.

"Don't worry about it. You lot can go off, I'll see you at the ball." George said.

"I knew it! I knew you had a date! Holly told me—"

"—Holly told you? She said she wouldn't tell anyone."

"I convinced her to tell me. So, who is she?"

"Just go on!" George said.

"We'll just wait with you. It seems wrong for the two of you not to go together, honestly." Angelina said. George's attention was brought back to his twin's date. Merlin, she was beautiful. An absolute vision. He watched her movements, subtle weight shifts on her feet. Her chest lifting lightly with each breath. And, always, her perfect smile with the slightest hint of perfect white teeth. George was taken out of his trance by his brother's voice.

"I didn't know Holly was going. Didn't she already turn down Davies?"

George's head turned toward the staircase. Holly rushed down, not allowing any attention to hit her. Like with Angelina's robes, her shoulders were bare and pale and spattered with light freckles. Her skin was light and clean like the moon and her dress was dark yet pale with a gossamer sleeve. She looked like the sky at twilight—clear, blue and purple, a few stars that still shine bright. George felt guilty to think that she was not nearly as gorgeous as he found Angie, but no one could deny that Holly was far more beautiful than anyone expected.

"Holly! You were able to fix those robes!" George greeted her.

"I suppose they worked out better than expected." She grinned. Her grin wasn't as straight and sophisticated as Angie's, but it was endearing and crooked.

"Is Holly your date, George?" Angie asked. Fred tried to hide his surprise as he figured it out as well.

"Yes." He said cheerfully, offering Holly his arm.

Fred's mind reeled with questions—why didn't George tell him, why Holly, were he and Holly dating, did George do this because he said he wanted to convince Holly to go even though they're not even that close?

The Gryffindors left the tower mostly in one large clump of people, with some outliers who had dates from other houses. Holly and George strayed behind a bit, joking around, reassuring each other that this was just an outing between two friends.

* * *

"You really do look beautiful tonight, Holly. You've made a couple heads turn." George said as they swayed quickly to a fast tune.

"Roger Davies won't pick his jaw up off the floor and he's here with Fleur Delacour!" She laughed. "It's sort of how you've been looking at Angelina all night."

George paused their dancing for a moment. "I know. I'm sorry. But I can't believe he asked her."

"He feels bad, you know. Fred. He told me so. As soon as he asked her, he wanted to take it back. In fact, I'm the one that told him he couldn't." Holly explained.

"Why would you do that?" He said in fleeting outrage.

"You couldn't do that to her. She said yes to Fred, so she had to come with Fred. I think he's going to back off after tonight, though. He really wants for you not to be angry at him anymore."

George grunted. "He'll get over it."

"You'll get her someday, Georgie. Your brother is just an idiot. He'll learn."

They danced some more, until Holly was sure she would fall over if left standing on her own for too long.

"You know," George said between sips of pumpkin juice, "I've got some firewhisky in my trunk if you wanted to try it."

"George!" Holly scolded.

"No one would know, and it would be just you and me. Besides, all that's going to happen for the rest of the night are slow songs for lovebirds to dance and snog to."

Holly chewed on her lip. "How about we just stay here and I'll think about it?"

"I was just letting you know our options."

And so they danced and said hello to their classmates. Holly looked around for Hermione for quite a while.

"I wonder where she went off to. Krum is still here." Holly observed.

"My dunderheaded little brother probably said something," George indicated to where Harry Potter and Ron were sitting."

"Oh, I hope not. She looked like she was having such a nice time."

George and Holly sat down again, waiting for a good song to play so they could dance again. But George was right and now, only slow songs were being played.

"I guess you were right." Holly said. But George didn't respond. He was staring at the dance floor. Holly followed his gaze and saw Fred and Angie, locked lips and limbs.

"Why don't we go see what that firewhisky is all about?" Holly asked. She stood up as George nodded solemnly. She offered her hand and he took it.

The trek back to the common room was silent, and Holly didn't want to press George into talking. When they got to George's room, no one else was there.

"Good, no one is back yet." George said as he ransacked his trunk. He found the bottle of firewhisky and could barely open it fast enough. He took a large gulp and shook his head vigorously. He handed the bottle to Holly, who looked bemused.

"Just take a drink of it." He said, motioning the act.

Holly took a small sip and felt nothing.

"No, no, no. You have to actually drink some." George said.

She tossed her head back and took a swig—not nearly as large as George's gulp, but a sustainable amount.

Her veins filled with fire as the drink made its way down her throat, forging a burning trail of the unknown into her stomach.

"Good, right?" George said cheekily as Holly winced.

"Shut up."

"You get used to it."

And Holly did get used to it, as the two friends switched the bottle between them. Before long, it was nearly empty.

"We should go for a walk!" Holly suggested excitedly. George, though willing, was a bit more self-reflective, but agreed to go for a walk.

"I can't believe how early it is." She exclaimed as they made their way out of the castle.

"It's two in the bloody morning." George said.

"But people are still dancing." She observed, laughing. George peaked into the dance and saw that yes, people were still dancing. He couldn't see Fred and Angelina.

"Come on! No need to watch them, we could have our own fun." Holly led George outside.

"Where should we go?" She asked, slurred yet bubbly.

"How about a good walk around the lake?"

Holly grinned and darted towards the lake. George thought she might have went right into the water.

"Is there really a giant squid in there?" She asked, looking upon the water with wonder.

George laughed. "I've seen it."

"No, you haven't!"

"I have! I swear I have."

Holly was walking on the rocks, making smalls leaps from surface to surface.

"Aren't you cold?" He called out at her.

"Not a bit." She grinned her childish, crooked grin. George suddenly forgot about Angelina's regal smile and sun-like skin. He forgot she was in the arms and lips of his twin. His entire mind filled with was how the lake reflected moon lit Holly up like fireworks. How she was the sky and he was a cloud. He wanted to wrap around her and float into the atmosphere. Her eyes were glittering blue stars, the only ones shining through the twilight of her dress robes. He chased after her on the rocks.

"Now you're having fun." They said in unison. George touched his hand to his lips, surprised. Holy giggled. "I am so happy you convinced me to break some rules." She said.

"Me, too." George said airily. Holly stopped the chase. Her eyelashes fluttered. George couldn't help from grinning.

"I had a lovely time." He said, approaching her closer.

"I'm sorry your girl is with Fred."

"It doesn't matter." George said. In one smooth sweep, he held her by the waist and pulled her close to his chest. He half-expected Holly's body to pull away or become rigid, but she was flowing through him like the rippled moon on the lake. He couldn't help himself and swooped in on her lips.

The two friends stood there, locked in a kiss for seconds of an eternity. Holly's eyes widened with surprised, but she gave into George's soft lips and kissed back. She parted her lips and he slipped his tongue inside. Strange and slippery, but Holly felt that she enjoyed it enough to allow him the access. After a while, they parted.

Breathing heavily, all the two could do was stare at each other, eyes filled with lust, affection, and fear. Nervously, Holly removed her shoes and tossed them into the lake. George looked at her questioningly.

"I hate those shoes." She said. "Besides, if I wore them, you'd be able to catch me." She ran off with her child's grin and George laughed, chasing after her.


	8. phantom bridegroom

**I don't like this chapter, really, at all. But I really, really wanted to get it out of the way. This means there's only one more chapter set in ****Goblet of Fire****, and I think it's going to be a fun one.** **Thank you for reading, and please feel free to review/favorite/follow! ** **-alienoctopus**

* * *

Holly woke up the next morning with every memory burned into her skull.

George had kissed her. She could no longer imagine about a mystery man, whisking her away and kissing her tenderly for the first time. The redhead had tainted every imagining and fantasy.

But George didn't _mean_ to kiss me, she thought, he was drunk and I was drunk and we had been dancing closely all night. But her reasoning could not get through the fact that George had kissed her.

That was her first kiss.

In all honestly, George Weasley was a good proper first kiss. He had treated Holly like a gentleman, and she enjoyed it. Not to mention he was rather good-looking. But he was also a rogue, a childish jokester that probably didn't even take the kiss all that seriously. Holly's face contorted with disgust, and moments later shifted to a smile. She couldn't decide how she felt and settled on not leaving her bed until the Christmas holiday was over and she was forced to go to class.

She spent a whole two days like this. It was unnatural for her not to let her mind whizz and whirr about her lessons, instead opting for copious amounts of sleep. But, eventually, her body couldn't handle it. She had to get out of bed, and out of the tower. She had to stretch her legs and get air that wasn't her recycled sleep breath. She got dressed haphazardly—mismatched socks, dirty trousers, and a too-large sweater. She pushed her hair out of her eyes. Her face felt dirty, streaked with old makeup from the ball. Holly decided a spot of breakfast couldn't do her any harm and headed down to the Great Hall. She shuffled down the stairs and through corridors, trying to keep quiet and unseen.

She finally sat down at the far end of the Gryffindor table and found pleasure in shoveling eggs into her mouth. No hunger that she had ever experienced before compared to what she was feeling now. The warm, runny eggs satiated her and filled her with welcoming warmth that she couldn't deny herself any longer. She downed a glass of pumpkin juice and wiped her lips. The Great Hall began to fill with more students and Holly thought it was best if she left before anyone—namely George—noticed her presence. As she stood up, an owl swooped in front of her. Holly's heart stopped. Her mother's handwriting spelled her name on the envelope the owl brought. Holly took it and ran off to the corridor and crouched next to a suit of armor. She tore open the letter and almost fell over as she skimmed it over. Tears formed in the wells of her eyes, not quite yet falling. An overwhelming urge to go back to sleep came over her. She slipped through the corridor and hurriedly headed back to the tower. As she approached the portrait, eyes down, trying to hide, she ran full on into someone's back. She stumbled back a few steps and mumbled a quick apology.

"Holly, where have you been?" The familiar voice greeted.

Please be Fred, she pleaded to herself. She looked up.

"I think we should talk." He said.

Dammit, she thought, maybe if I stay silent he'll let me go.

"Are you ok?" George asked, noticing her tears.

Holly shook her head. She handed him her mother's letter.

_Holly,_

_Your brother brought me to a Ministry function last night, and the strangest thing happened. I happened to be talking to a Percy Weasley—a nice young man who seems to be advancing in the Ministry quickly! —And he told me that my daughter looked absolutely lovely as his younger brother's date to the Yule Ball. I thought he was mistaken as we had agreed that you would not be attending any Triwizard Tournament events_. _However, after talking with him some more, I realized he was correct._

_I have written to your head of house and asking her to revoke your status as a prefect. I hope you think it was worth it._

_Mum._

"Oh, Holly." George said. He went to embrace Holly, but she backed away.

"Don't touch me." She yelled.

"What's going on with you?" He asked.

"I don't know, George!" She cried. George could tell that a commotion was going to happen and he led Holly out of the way.

Her voice quieted but still shook. "I don't know much of anything anymore. I don't know if I ever wanted to be a prefect. I don't know if I wanted to go to the ball. I don't know if I wanted you to kiss me. I don't know if I even want to go back to sleep anymore." She said.

George let her catch her breath. They stared at each other. Holly's chest heaved. George studied her with ocean eyes. She succumbed to the waves and slid to the floor, crying. George sat next to her. He let her cry.

"Right now, without thinking, answer this: what do you want?" He asked when she calmed a bit.

"I don't know." She said.

"You do." He said. "Up here," he pointed at her head, "you know a lot more than you think you do. So, now without thinking, what do you want?" He asked again, gently. His words caressed her skin like the slightest of winds.

"I think I want you to kiss me again." She said.

"I don't know if I can do that, Holly." George admitted.

"I know." She said. She sniffed and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"Holly—"

"—I think you should leave me alone, George." She said, her voice finally steady.

"Are you sure?"

"Please."

George nodded and stood up. He offered his hand to help her up, but she refused. She remained seated on the ground, tears flowing freely.

"Good-bye, Holly." George said. Holly said nothing in return. He went back to the common room. Holly wished she could have stayed in the corridor for the rest of the holiday. But with handfuls of Gryffindors walking past her, Holly knew she should head back to the only thing she had the energy left to do—sleep.

* * *

Holly tried to spend her time in solitude, avoiding even sitting by Hermione in the library. On the bright side for her, George seemed keen on avoiding her, as well, or at least was respecting her wish to be alone.

Unfortunately, however, this made her all the more intriguing to Fred. If George and her were early birds, meeting for breakfasts, then Fred was a night owl, and he knew that was a great time to get Holly alone. In hopes of not being bothering, Holly would hide herself in her bed until everyone else went to sleep and she would go study in the common room. There were off nights—sometimes people were still awake, and often Harry Potter would just be sitting there looking as if he was waiting for something—but for the most part, she was successful in her loneliness.

Until Fred discovered that this was great time to find her.

"Did you and George break up?" He asked one night. He was lying on the floor in front of the couch, while Holly sat on that couch pretending to be distracted by her homework.

She laughed bitterly. "We would have had to be dating in order to break up."

"Then why are you both sulking and avoiding each other?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

"Because he won't tell me anything anymore." Fred sat up. "Ever since Angie and I started dating, he's hardly said a word to me unless it was important." Fred's mind wandered briefly to Ludo Bagman. "But it started before that."

"It did, and you knew it. It was always because of Angie."

"I know. I was just hoping there was more to it, so it wasn't all my fault."

Holly put her things down on the couch cushion next to her. She bit her lip. She didn't quite understand how she got to where she was—somewhat friends with Fred Weasley. Not even friends, she just sat there while she talked at her general direction. Ultimately, however, Holly couldn't stand that Fred blamed himself in all of this, even if it was mostly his fault.

"It's not all your fault." She said, finally.

Fred got a little excited. "What do you mean?"

"George and I kissed at the Yule Ball." Holly admitted. She blushed violently.

"What?" Fred was surprised.

"He said we should have some firewhisky, and I didn't want to, but agreed because he felt so bad watching you and Angie. We drank, well, I think it was a lot, and we went outside and he kissed me."

"That's it?" Fred asked.

Holly sighed. "No."

"Then, what happened?"

"When he found out that my prefect status had been revoked, I told him I wanted him to kiss me again."

"And he didn't?"

"He couldn't."

"Do you fancy him?"

"No. He was my first kiss. I wanted to be kissed again. It didn't matter all that much that it was him." She admitted.

"And that's why you're not talking."

Holly nodded.

"I wonder why he didn't tell me." Fred said, finally. Holly had no answer for him.

* * *

"What are you doing, talking to Holly Tully?" Angelina scolded Fred one evening. George's ears perked up—he didn't know Holly and Fred were talking to each other.

"Talking, I reckon." Fred said with a grin.

"You can't be talking to her." Angelina said with finality.

"Why not?"

"Because. Because I'm your girlfriend and I've asked you not to."

As if on cue, Holly came into the common room. All eyes were on her as soon as the portrait hole opened. Holly didn't notice the stares until her eyes met George's. She shifted her sight to her feet and hurried to her dormitory.

"She doesn't even have any friends." Angie said once Holly was out of earshot.

"That's why I've been talking to her." Fred said. In reality, he started talking to Holly to try and get an insight on George.

"Just stop."

Fred reluctantly agreed and tried to continue joking around with his friends. Unfortunately, no matter how hard anyone laughed, there was staleness between him, George, and Angie.

Back upstairs; Holly dumped a pile of books on her bed, most of them on Astronomy. As interested as she was in the subject, he couldn't help how absolutely bored she was feeling. It wasn't being alone that bothered her—she was used to that. But Holly was not used to having nothing to do. Usually, she would be managing her time between her studies and prefect duties. But now, without patrols to take up some time, Holly found that she had too much time. She wished things weren't so strained between her and George so she would at least be able to talk to him. Fred wasn't a bad surrogate in the sense that he looked just like George, but Fred only ever wanted to talk about George. It wasn't like talking to George directly.

Holly decided she needed to find something to do. Something to occupy her time. She hurried down to the common room, hoping to be cloaked by the sheer amount of Gryffindors around, and headed to the bulletin board near the exit.

I wonder if Cedric Diggory is involved with any of these clubs, she thought as she perused the flyers for various teams, clubs, and organizations. Holly snorted when she saw a small sign: "Join S.P.E.W. to protect House Elf rights. Speak with Hermione Granger if interested." I doubt Cedric is in S.P.E.W., she thought.

Then, finally, she saw it—the one flyer to really catch her eye.

_Dueling Club_. It was perfect. She could hex her fellow students, and didn't have to be friends with any of them. She cast a sideways glance towards George. Friendships fall apart anyway, she thought. She took down the flyer and folded it to fit in her pocket.


	9. end of the beginning

**Hey, guys! I hate to be this writer, but there's a couple of things I want to address.** **1\. This is the last chapter that takes place during ****Goblet of Fire****. Thank you SO MUCH for sticking with this story for as long as you have. It means so much to me!** **2\. Because this is the last chapter of this section of the story, it's a good time for me to ask you for a reader response. I know, I know, it's really only so I get more readers, but it also lets me know that people are enjoying this story so I can continue it. So I ask of you to favorite, follow, and/or review. Those numbers, sadly, matter.** **And, finally, here it is, the first of many endings.** **-alienoctopus**

* * *

Holly walked slowly to the dungeons to where dueling club meets were held. She was a little nervous—she didn't know of any Gryffindors in the club. But she told herself that was a good thing. The less she knew anyone, the less she had to talk to anyone or avoid them. She took a deep breath and opened the classroom door.

It had been cleared of all the desks, which was probably easy to do because Holly didn't think any classes actually took place here. The walls were sparsely padded, as was the ground. A handful of Slytherin seventh years were grouped together in a corner. Holly recognized some Hufflepuffs, and a whole lot of Ravenclaws.

"Hiya, Holly." Someone greeted her. Holly turned towards who spoke. All shaggy blonde hair and deer eyes, Roger Davies smiled at her.

"Hi, Roger." She said meekly.

"Are you thinking of joining Dueling Club?" He asked.

"I am, actually, considering that I'm here."

"Excellent. We can be partners." He said, still smiling a shiny smile.

Holly didn't have enough time to accept or deny the offer, as Professor Snape entered the room.

"We will start with disarming, as always. Begin." He said in his deep, smooth drawl.

"I didn't know Snape was in charge." Holly whispered to Roger, who led her to a sectioned space in the room.

"Not a lot of people join because of him. You're probably the first Gryffindor." He said. "You know how to disarm?"

Holly nodded.

"All right, I'll go to the other side and we can start." Roger strode to the other side of the room, facing her. Before Holly could even raise her wand, he had her disarmed. But instead of into his hand, her wand flung across the room towards him and he ducked.

"Oi! Don't break it!" She shouted at him.

"Sorry about that. I can't seem to ever get that right." Roger said. He picked up her wand and walked it to her.

Holly was able to start the spell, but Roger was too quick for her. Her wand, once again, sped towards him.

"It was closer to my hand that time." He said.

"You want to catch the wand, Davies." Snape scolded.

"You'd think a quidditch player would be quicker than that." Holly said heatedly.

"You haven't even gotten to disarm me yet." Roger said smugly.

Holly was determined now. Roger went back to standing across from her and she quickly spat out, "Expelliarmus!" His wand landed at her feet.

"Nice go." Roger said. She tossed his wand at him.

The club, under Snape's direction, moved on to counterjinxes.

"Stop doing the Jelly-Legs Jinx!" Holly yelled.

"Then start countering it." He said. He reversed the jinx and Holly stood again.

It took eight times of Roger sending jinxes for her to finally counter it. Roger's legs gave out underneath him.

Professor Snape studied the ordeal from behind Holly, and, seemingly pleased, walked over to another pair.

The meet ended with most of its participants rubbing bruised appendages, and some seconds years were on their way to the Hospital Wing.

"You did brilliantly for your first time, Holly." Roger said, running to her side.

"Thanks. I didn't think getting jinxed could be that fun."

He laughed. "You get used to it. Walk you out of the dungeon?"

"Sure." Holly agreed.

"So, I saw you at the ball." He said. "You could've just told me you were going with Fred Weasley, you know."

"I went with George." Holly said, ashamed. "I really wasn't able to go, but then he convinced me a couple of days before to go with him."

"Are you seeing him?" Roger asked.

"No." holly said quickly. "I haven't even really spoken to him."

Roger nodded and they walked together as far as they could before parting ways.

"I guess I'll see you around?" He asked.

"We have Charms together, I'm sure we'll see each other."

"Of course." He smiled at her again. Holly shivered, both distraught and warmed.

Holly walked back to her dormitory, wild and excited. There was something invigorating about Dueling Club—she didn't have to think about anything but spells. She dressed in nightclothes and crawled into bed. She felt tired from the meet.

As soon as Holly put her head to her pillow, all of her thoughts turned back on. She felt George's hands on her waist, his lips on hers—Holly tried to superimpose Cedric's image onto George, an attempt at a happier memory, one not tainted with fallen friendships. But she found herself unable to imagine herself kissing Cedric—oh, perfect Cedric, she lamented. He was far too good for her, the girl who lost her prefect badge, the girl who couldn't keep a friend for more than a couple of months.

Holly paused her thoughts for a moment. Something was off about thinking about Cedric, or even George. But a thought about Roger stuck with her. She smiled to herself, a secret thought about Roger floated in her mind. She slept soundly.

* * *

Holly was able to get through another week with the thought of another Dueling Club meet getting her through the bores of her usual day. On the afternoon of the second meeting, she was sitting in the Great Hall, trying to get through a Potions essay. She couldn't help but notice that the Weasley twins and their friends were seated at the other end of the table.

"You coming tonight?" Roger's voice startled her. "Didn't mean to scare you. Constant vigilance, as Moody always says." He said when he noticed her jump in her seat.

"Hi, Roger." Holly put down her quill.

"So are you coming again tonight, or did I scare you off Dueling Club?" He flashed her that shining smile.

"I'm definitely coming. I enjoyed last week loads, you know."

"I had a feeling. I'll see you then, yeah?"

"Can't wait." She tried to smile the same kind of smile Roger gave, but as always, it came out crooked.

Across the way, Fred and George couldn't help but notice Holly talking to Roger, or that Roger was sitting very close to her. They didn't notice each other's noticing, however. Abruptly, they excused themselves, distracted by Holly and the fact that they absolutely had to go to the owlry.

They walked in silence until right before the stairs to the owlry. "Did you notice Roger Davies talking to Holly?" George asked.

"I did, actually."

"What's he doing talking to her?"

"What does it matter?"

"I just haven't heard from her in a while, that's all."

"Mmm." Was all Fred could say.

"Are we doing this?" George asked, brandishing their letter to Ludo Bagman.

"It's not explicitly blackmail." Fred argued. "It's just a very strongly worded letter."

George sighed, with a slight hint of worry, and tied it off on an owl. "Merlin, I hope this works out." He said.

"It will." Fred assured. The silence continued again as they walked back down. It was starting to bother Fred.

"I don't know why Angie has such a problem with Holly. She and I were starting to get along until Angie said I couldn't talk to her."

"You know Angie," George said, "She's very competitive, and she likes to know everything about everyone else. Holly is sort of the unknown to her. I actually think if they got to know each other, they'd be friends."

"At least I know why Holly's not talking to me. You haven't a clue—you take her to the ball and then never hear from her again." Fred said. All George could do was not. "I mean, it's not as if you kissed her or anything."

George laughed a shrill, fake laugh. "Right. Can't figure it out."

"George, don't lie to me." Fred said seriously.

"What?"

"I know you kissed her. She told me. She told me you wouldn't kiss her again. Why wouldn't you kiss her again?"

"I don't know." George hung his head in shame.

"Funny, because I know." Fred's voice was biting. "You wouldn't kiss her because you apparently fancy my girlfriend, but you couldn't tell me that you felt anything for Angie half a bloody year ago!" He yelled. "Why did you stop telling me things? Since when did we not tell each other everything? Why do I have to find this… this shite out from some bird we barely know?"

"Funny, I don't remember it being a requirement that we tell each other everything."

"It's not. We just always did."

George took a breath. "I'm sorry. No, I'm really bloody sorry." He said honestly. "Everything got so confusing, and I started not wanting to talk to you because, well, everything with Angie."

"Do you not want me to date her?" Fred asked.

"No. If you're happy, I don't want you to do anything about. I just need to get over it, it'll be fine. Angie seems happy." George tried to shake it off. "Really. I mean, it's just some girl I fancied. It's not like I'm in love with her or anything."

"Right. So you think you're going to talk to Holly again, then?" Fred asked.

"I dunno. Maybe. I think I need to give her some time. She's the one that wanted to not talk."

"You know, you were her first kiss. That's why she wanted you to kiss her again. It wasn't anything, well, like _that_."

Both Fred and George felt relief—now both of them were on the same page on everything for the first time that school year.

* * *

Holly ducked; avoiding a hex Roger had sent her way.

"No fair! You can't move away from the spell." He shouted.

Holly grinned. "It didn't hit me, therefore it's a valid move." She countered. Roger groaned in frustration.

"At least I got a spell out." He taunted playfully.

They reset their positions. Roger sent another hex towards Holly and she put a shield up.

"Come on, Holly. It's no fun if you're only on the defensive."

Roger's teasing had garnered the attention of most of the club, who had stopped their dueling to watch him and Holly. The two reset themselves. Holly felt determined now that she could see people were watching her and Roger fight.

She saw Roger raise his wand and without even thinking of protecting herself, she sent a curse his way. He fell forward and the room filled with a loud "CRACK!"

"I am so sorry." Holly shouted as she ran across the room. "I didn't think it'd be that powerful."

After a moment, Roger sat up and smiled, his face spilling blood. "I think I should go to the Hospital Wing." He spat out. Professor Snape regained control of the room as Holly helped Roger up, dismissing the pair so they could go to the infirmary.

"I'm really sorry, Roger." Holly apologized again.

He laughed. "Dob't worry 'out it." He said through his broken nose and bloody mouth. "I libke seebing oo fight babck."

Holly blushed.

"Hold on." He said. He used the wall to steady himself and wiped his face with the sleeve of his robes.

"I don't think—" Roger's lips crashing onto hers cut off But Holly. She could taste the penny-flavor of his blood.

His kiss was very different that George's. Where George was sweet, slow, and tender, Roger was rough and hungry. His tongue begged her to kiss him with the same passion he was kissing her. She did. Both students were so caught up in each other, they paid no mind to the fact that Roger's blood was smearing onto Holly's uniform.

They didn't even notice the Weasley twins, who were on their way out of the Hospital Wing and who definitely noticed them. Fred and George exchanged a look, almost worried to see Holly kissing Roger, covered in blood.

"Bloody hell! Actual bloody hell." Fred exclaimed. Holly and Roger broke apart, terrified that they had been caught.

"Are you all right?" George asked.

Roger smiled proudly at him—despite most of his teeth being covered in red, his smile was almost taunting and smug. "She brobke my nobe." He said simply.

The twins couldn't be more confused. "Are you all right, Holly?" George specified.

She nodded. "I should really get him to the Hospital Wing." She said quietly. She took Roger by the arm and pulled him into the wing.

* * *

Everything was going beautifully for Holly towards the end of term. She remained still at the top of her classes, doing incredibly well in Dueling Club, and was almost dating Roger Davies. Almost, because they had not really talked about their relationship, but instead they'd sit with each other at any given moment. They'd join each other for small walks around the castle as soon as it was nice out. They'd do their homework in the library together. Holly didn't feel concerned with defining their relationship—she just enjoyed being around Roger.

She didn't feel bad about not being a prefect anymore at this point. She had never liked it and was happy not to have any of those responsibilities. She still found her eyes trying to find Cedric Diggory, but she no longer felt the need for him to notice her. Roger already had noticed her.

Perhaps the only thing that wasn't going well for Holly at Hogwarts was that she felt guilty about George. She was baffled when Fred stopped talking to her, but it was in his nature to pick up and drop things within moments, but George had kept trying to be friends with her. She agreed with herself that, if the opportunity arises, she would try and fix things with George.

It was a strange opportunity, then, when Angelina sat on the corner of Holly's bed one evening.

"Erm, hello, Angelina." Holly greeted, positively shocked.

"I need to ask you something." Angelina said quickly.

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Fred likes me, right?"

Holly was dumbfounded. Why was Angelina asking Holly about her boyfriend? "I have to think so, considering the two of you are dating." Holly answered nervously.

"He's talked to you before. You must know." Angelina implored.

Holly gulped. Was she going to do what she was about to do?

"I haven't talked to Fred, or George, in a while. But I'll tell you what I know."

"I knew there was something!" Angelina said. "Hold on—don't tell me. I need a moment." Angelina waved her hands at her head and took a deep breath. "Ok. Finally, someone who can tell me the truth about the twins." She said.

"I know Fred asked you to the Yule Ball mistakenly. George wanted to ask you, actually. Fred thinks you're a great girl, but he didn't think you could be anything more than a friend." Holly tried to remember back to things Fred had told her. "George fancies you, though. He has for a while."

Holly examined Angelina, who looked like she was about to cry.

"I knew Fred didn't like me." She said, wiping her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Angelina."

"Thank you for telling me the truth. It's nice to know that there's someone out there who won't lie to me."

Holly gulped again. "If you talk to the twins about it, can you try to avoid telling them that I told you all this?"

"I will." Angelina promised.

Not a week later, George sat next to Holly in the common room early one morning.

"Angelina ended things with Fred." He said, not looking at her.

"Oh?" Was all Holly could say.

"She also told me that you told her that I fancy her."

Holly bit her lip. She turned to face George. "I'm sorry, George! I didn't mean to tell her—well, I did, actually—but she was crying and she knew Fred wasn't all that interested in her and I thought if I told her you like her then maybe she'd feel better or maybe even like you, too—"

"—Thanks." They sat in silence.

"So, you and Davies?"

"Yeah." Holly answered before George's question went further.

"Cool." George sat there for a moment, and then left without saying anything else. Holly wasn't sure what had just happened, but it might have been a good thing.

She was feeling great for the next two weeks, until the day of the final task. Holly missed the first task, and the second task was rather uneventful unless you were underwater. She hoped the final task would be worth going to, especially since her mother still was angry with her for attending what she has so far. But she didn't care. Holly was feeling wonderful, and her mother's faraway scolds couldn't ruin that.

Fred Weasley, however, could.

"What did you tell Angelina?" He asked when he cornered her after a shortened Transfiguration lesson.

"What are you talking about?" Holly asked, a little nervous to be so near to Fred's wand point. His Atlantic eyes crackled with electricity.

"George told me that you had talked to her."

"Back off, Fred." Holly said, puffing out her chest, trying to stand tall. "I talked to Angelina, yes, but ages ago. Why?"

"Was it before she and I broke up?"

"Yes." She answered, matching Fred's intensity.

"Did you tell her something that might have made her want to break up with me?" He asked. His lips formed a thin, angry line, waiting for her response.

"I might have." Holly said.

"Dammit!" Fred hit the wall behind her.

"All I did was tell her the truth that both you and George didn't have the balls to do." She raised her voice. She was on guard—she could feel all of her nerves tingle. Fred looked at her for a moment, the longest moment of Holly's life so far, and the walked away, his footsteps heavy.

Holly didn't let her interaction with Fred bother her. She was about to end her best year at Hogwarts yet and she wasn't going to allow his anger to bring her down. She met Roger in the stands for the final task and sat next to him.

"I hope this one's more exciting than the last." He said. A small shot was heard, and Harry and Cedric ran into the maze.

"I don't think it will be. This seems to be just hedges."

Roger sighed, bored. He wove his fingers in and out of Holly's hair, letting the deep blonde strands fall to her back.

"Who do you think is going to win?" He asked after a while.

"Cedric." Holly said with certainty. Though she was happy with Roger, she still admired Cedric and held him with high esteem.

"I think Krum's a definite win."

"Don't be too sure about that." Holly said as Krum was pulled out of the maze. He looked wilder than usual. The next hour or so went by in a flash, despite no one being able to see what happened. Before anyone could comprehend what was going on, Harry Potter came out of the maze, holding the limp body of Cedric Diggory.


	10. letter-sending

**This is the last chapter before I begin the Order of the Phoenix storyline! Whoo-hoo! **

**Last chapter, I asked readers new and old that it's a great time to start favoriting/following/reviewing _Yes, And_ as it is a good time to get that sort of presence for this story and you all followed through! Thank you all so much!**

**Again, please favorite/follow/review! I'm going into my spring break in a couple of days, so I'll be posting a lot in succession, and then I'm going to take a break and slowly pay attention to other stories.**

**-alienoctopus**

* * *

It was a somber train ride home. It was the first time Holly didn't meet with the prefects in the head car, looking forward to watching Cedric give a final, motivating speech of upholding prefect ideals. She was instead staring, moodily, not looking forward to going home to her mother, when Roger interrupted her thoughts.

"Hmm?

"I'm going to go see some of my mates, if that's all right." He repeated.

"Go on. I'll see you later." She said.

"If not, I'll write you." He promised. He smiled his shiny smile before he closed the door.

Holly felt a bit let down that Roger left the compartment without much of a good-bye. I didn't give him much, either, she thought. Only after a moment by herself, voices came through the door.

"We can sit in here, it's empty—oh, hello, Holly. I didn't see you." Angelina Johnson's happy face greeted her.

"Hi, Angelina." Holly said, slightly uncomfortable.

"Mind if we all sit here?" She asked, already sitting next to Holly. It was beyond comprehension that Angelina had sat by Holly and smiled at her, but Holly took it without question—it was far better than being made fun of.

Fred, George, Lee, Alicia, and Katie sat around the compartment. They spoke warmly of the summer and writing to each other. The events of the final task were handled like a glass in a china cabinet—untouched, gathering fresh dust. Holly sat quietly, allowing the conversations to happen around her, still unsure of their inside jokes and secret grins.

"And where is Roger Davies, Holly?" Angelina asked.

Holly blushed. "He's with his friends."

"Oh? And here we thought you were dating." Katie said.

"We sort of are. I dunno."

"The two of you snog each other like you're dating." Fred said. He gave her a look—cruel, a look he had given her months before, and then again just days ago. No one else noticed, however, and chuckled at what he had said. Holly tried her best to ignore his stares.

It was a surreal train ride. Holly almost couldn't believe it was happening around her. Cedric Diggory was dead, she wasn't patrolling the cars, and Angelina Johnson was sitting next to her as if they were dear friends. Holly found herself wishing for the ride to come to and end so she could at least find some normalcy in some controlling yet distant mothering.

Everyone said good-bye for the summer. Holly told George she would send an owl his way—it was clear their friendship was ready for repair. They embraced, but quickly pulled away. Holly couldn't help but notice Fred watching them, the same glare from before haunting the oceans of his visage.

Holly exited the train after everyone, dragging her trunk behind her. She looked through the crowd, trying to find her mother and father. But she did not see the graceful raven hair of her mum, nor the towering height of her father.

"Holly?" A voice called out.

"James?" She asked once she found the source of the voice. "Where are Mum and Dad?" She asked, relieved that her brother was there and not her mother.

"It's sort of a long story. Basically, Mum is mad at you, and she's also mad at me. She's just mad all around. So you're going to be staying with me this summer. Isn't that great?" He said. Holly couldn't tell if he meant it or not.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"I don't think we should talk about it here," James said, "C'mon, c'mon. We've got to go." He urged as she pulled her trunk up. He groaned. "And you can't Apparate yet! All right, grab on."

Holly grabbed tight around her brother, a strange sort of hug that might have looked like a warm embrace between two siblings to anyone else. Holly felt the tug and pull of Apparation and before she could catch a breath, she was in her brother's flat. It looked exactly as it did when he had the family over when he first rented it. Meticulously clean and modern—all bronze and blue and sharp edges. It was different than the home they grew up in: Greek revival with plush blue velvets and wooden floors, yet it was similar to their mother's decorating. Perhaps a little newer, a little more masculine. Holly had to imagine this is what the Ravenclaw common room looked like, as it felt alien to her. It wasn't warm and homey like the Gryffindor common room.

She dropped her trunk immediately in the middle of the floor and confronted her brother. "What's going on?" She demanded. James sighed and ran a hand through his hair—dark and thick like their mother's. In fact, he looked much more like their mum than Holly did, all dark hair, straight, striking features, sharp brown eyes. If it were her mother she was trying to get answers from, Holly would have backed down already. But she was feeling confident in talking to her brother. She stared him down.

"You know about everything that happened in the Triwizard Tournament, right? With You-Know-Who?" He asked.

"Sort of. Just what Dumbledore's told us." Holly said.

"Well, almost immediately afterwards, Dumbledore was putting together a sort of resistance. He asked us—me, Mum, and Dad—if we wanted to be a part of it. I think because of our connections, and that we all did well at Hogwarts, he wanted to see if we could help. Mum flat out refused. She doesn't think You-Know-Who is back, and said if she would, she wouldn't want to get involved. I think Dad wanted to say something, but he never does. I volunteered as soon as the question was asked. Mum was livid with me. She told me to take you, and that she doesn't want to talk to us."

"She's a madwoman!" Holly kicked her trunk. "Absolutely mad. How they let her be a mother—do you know what she did to me this year?" Holly ranted.

"I know, Holly." He said with force. "Calm down. So, you're staying here for the summer, it seems, until Mum forgives at least one of us."

"I don't care if she never forgives me." She said with defiance. "Mum gets to be all high and mighty when she doesn't know a damn thing. She's never once asked me about my friends or which classes are my favorites—At least Dad asks how the quidditch teams are doing! Mum doesn't care about me, and she never has, so I don't care about her."

"Don't say things like that, Holly. She's our mum." James tried to console his sister, but was beginning to realize he did not know how.

"Of course you feel that way. She always liked you."

James stayed quiet.

"It doesn't even matter," she finished sullenly, "I didn't want to stay with them this summer anyway. Not after this year." She sighed and picked up her trunk by the side handle. "Where am I putting this?" She asked.

"I have a spare room down the hall on the right." James pointed behind him, towards the hallway.

Holly dragged her trunk past her brother and to her new room.

It was a crisp white room. In the middle was a dark, wooden twin bed frame, complete with mattress, white linens and comfortable, and fluffed pillows. There was a nicely sized window on the right side of the bed. Holly entered the room and placed her trunk on the floor in front of the bed. She turned to look out the window. She could see right out to Diagon Alley! She could see almost directly into the apothecary, and right next door to it was Oelyps Owl Emporium, so hoards of owls flew to and from at any given time. It was pure magic to see—which was saying something as Holly could see magic whenever she wanted.

Aside from the bed and now Holly's trunk, there was no furniture.

James appeared behind Holly. "I can budget for some furnishings." He told her. "A lamp, a nightstand, a shelf—anything you want, really."

"Thanks." Holly meant it.

"Erm, how about I get some takeout for dinner?" He asked. James found himself oddly uncomfortable around his sister. He didn't really know anything about her and now here she was, living in his flat. There was a new determination in him to get to know Holly, and maybe become as close as brothers and sisters should be—especially because he wasn't wholly sure of the fate of the wizarding world.

"Sounds good."

"Any preferences?"

"I honestly don't care."

* * *

"So what happened this year that made Mum so cross with you? I know some of it." James asked Holly over a roast chicken dinner.

His dining table was small—sleek black and silver, with only two matching chairs. It was on the far end of the kitchen, across from the matching island.

Holly played with the food on her plate. "I got a detention early on in the year."

"I know that much. Which Weasley twin did you hit, by the way?"

"Fred. He was being an arse. I couldn't help it."

"I don't doubt it."

"So, Mum had McGonagall ban me from attending anything to do with the Triwizard Tournament, and to suspend me from prefect duties. I was doing well with that. I didn't go to the first task. I didn't even go to the after party and it was in the bloody Gryffindor tower! Someone even asked me to the Yule Ball event and I turned him down." Holly nervously focused on her plate. She started to feel uncomfortable being so candid with James. They had never spoken like this before. She looked up at James, who seemed to be waiting patiently yet still expectantly for her to continue.

"And then George Weasley decided he wanted to be my friend."

"After you struck his brother?"

"I think that was the motivation behind it," Holly grinned, "Anyway, George fancied this girl and Fred ended up taking her to the ball. Which left George dateless so he asked me—and I tried to say no! I swear I did!—But he convinced me. He was right to, honestly, I didn't like being a prefect, and I wanted to go to the ball no matter what Mum said—and oh! I've got to tell you about the dress she sent me off with. But I'll finish telling you all this first." Holly found herself in an excited rhythm.

"George and I went to the ball, and I guess one of your Ministry friends saw us and recognized me, because he told Mum that I looked nice or something. Mum got so angry that I broke her rule about attending the events, that she convinced McGonagall to revoke my prefect status. And that's why Mum carted me off to you, I guess." Holly finished. She took her first bite of chicken. It warmed and satisfied her stomach.

"Why's Mum mad at you? Because you believe Dumbledore?"

"Sort of, yeah. Do you remember Uncle Philip at all?" James asked. Holly shook her head no. "I figured. You were maybe two when he died. Uncle Philip was heavily involved in the Wizard War against You-Know-Who—"

"—What do you mean?"

"He wasn't siding with You-Know-Who. Uncle Philip was fighting against him with a group named the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore started it. After everything that happened with Harry Potter in the tournament, Dumbledore didn't hesitate to bring the Order back. Because our uncle fought and died in the resistance, I guess he thought our family would like to join. Mum flat out refused and said there's no real way to know You-Know-Who is back—it's just Harry Potter wanting attention. Dad didn't say a word about it. Who know what he believes. But I was interested. I work security at the Ministry—I know a lot about how that place works. I figured I could be a valuable person to have fighting against You-Know-Who. I joined immediately. Mum's not having any of it—she thinks I'm off my rocker."

"I want to join." Holly said.

"You can't."

"Why not? I want to fight."

"You're too young, Holly."

"I'll be seventeen in August!"

"You haven't even finished your seventh year."

Holly groaned. "I'm at the top of my class!"

"All the more reason for you to stay at Hogwarts."

Holly pushed her plate to the middle of the table. "I think I'm done." She said, standing from her seat.

"Holly, don't be sore at me. They wouldn't let you in the Order. You don't need to toss your dinner away because something's out of your control." James attempted to soothe her. "How about this: if there is anything I think you can do for the Order, I'll let you know. Until then, you need to stay in school."

"Maybe it'll all be over by the time I get out of Hogwarts."

"I don't think so. This is a lot bigger than we think, Holly."

"Is that why you're being nice to me?"

"W-what?" James tried to laugh.

Holly narrowed her eyes. "Nothing. Forget about it. I'm going to be in my room." Holly finally excused herself, though this time slightly more politely.

Holly tried to calmly walk to the room she was staying in, and succeeded until she closed the door behind her. She fell flat on her bed and hit the pillows with her fists. After a minute of muffled screaming, she sat up, unsure of why she was really angry in the first place.

And now, she faced a dilemma: what was she to do all summer long? She didn't have any of her books from home with her, nor did she have the mindless chores her mother would give her every summer. Studying for her N.E.W.T.s was certainly a prospect, however, having just finished off a school year, even Holly couldn't bring herself to start just yet. So, she pulled out a quill and parchment and decided she'd write a letter.

_Dear Roger,_

_I know it will be a few days until I get to an owl and this gets to you, so I think it's not too early to ask how your summer is going so far. I'll tell you mine's already boring. I just got off the train and my options are either study for N.E.W.T.s or go to sleep, but it's barely eight o'clock. I can't bring myself to do either quite yet._

_I'm staying with my brother this summer. It should be interesting. He and I aren't terribly close. His flat is nice. I think you would like it, as I'm sure he modeled a lot of it off the Ravenclaw common room. Maybe I should ask if you could come by sometime this summer? He lives right in Diagon Alley, so I'm sure we can see each other in the shops or something._

_I hope I hear from you soon. I can already feel my brain go numb out of boredom. A letter would help out very much in preventing that._

_Yours,_

_Holly_

Holly folded up the letter with mild contempt. It was a stupid-sounding letter. She ought not to send it. She took out another piece of parchment and wrote to George, knowing she'd be a little more comfortable telling him more than she told Roger.

* * *

"What is this?" James asked, examining the plate Holly had put in front of him.

"It's supposed to be shepherd's pie." Holly answered.

"Not soup?"

"Shove it."

"A stew, maybe?"

"I tried!" Holly said, exasperated. It was the fifteenth day of summer holiday, and Holly, nearly obliterated by boredom, was passing the time learning how to cook. Unfortunately, Holly was not quite domestically gifted.

"I'll have to admit, it at least tastes good. Better than breakfast at least." James said, taking a bite.

"I told you—I was trying to make grits!" She defended their terrible, grainy breakfast. "Have we gotten any post lately?" She asked.

"No. Why, are you waiting on something?" James asked as he choked down dinner.

"Sort of." She grimaced as she took a bite of her creation. "Ok, where should I order from?" She spit out her food into a napkin.

James laughed. "Don't worry. I brought some chicken home after work because I knew you'd be cooking dinner."

"Arse."

"So whose letters are you waiting for?"

Holly flushed. "Just some friends."

"Who are your friends?"

"Well, I sent one to George Weasley—"

"—Are you and George dating, then?"

"No!" Holly said, mortified. "No. We're just friends. I sent him a letter and he's yet to respond. And I sent one to Roger Davies."

"Roger Davies." James mused. "He's a Ravenclaw. How'd you start talking to him?"

"I joined Dueling Club."

"So you're dating Davies?"

"No—not exactly. I'm sort of seeing him. He hasn't written me yet, either."

James nodded. "Owl post always takes too long when you want a letter." He tried to console.

"I suppose."

* * *

_Dear George,_

_My mum carted me off to stay with my brother this summer. James and I hardly talk, so I don't know how this is going to turn out. So far, it's been a couple of hours and I'm so bored that I'm writing letters. It was this or start reviewing for N.E.W.T.s, so you should feel honored that I chose you over studying._

_Mum must be very angry with me if she doesn't want to see me all summer. I could blame you for causing me to break some rules, but in all honesty, I think I wanted to break those rules._

_She's not happy with James, either. She doesn't believe Dumbledore and Harry Potter about You-Know-Who and he does. It sounds like they fought over it and his punishment is that he has to live with me until Hogwarts starts again._

_I wish there was something I could do to help fight against You-Know-Who, especially because it sounds like the Ministry of Magic seems to be denying everything Dumbledore says._

_I hope your summer is going well. Write me back when you can!_

_Yours,_

_Holly_

George scanned the letter again and grinned. He had converted a prefect to his troublemaking ways—well, not exactly, but close enough. Maybe he can get Holly to help out in some pranks this year if she's going to stay on a rebellion kick. He heard Mrs. Weasley call for dinner and he Apparated downstairs, at exactly the same time as Fred did despite not being in the same room.

"Your father has something to say." Mrs. Weasley said as the Weasley children, and Hermione Granger sat to dinner amongst half of the Order of the Phoenix.

"What's going on, Dad?" Ron asked.

"Professor Dumbledore thinks it best if as little post as possible leaves headquarters." Mr. Weasley announced. "He doesn't want to risk the possibility of anyone finding out about the Order."

"Harry's not going to like that." Hermione said.

"We're still going to owl him." Ron argued.

"If you are compelled to not listen to Professor Dumbledore," Mr. Weasley continued knowingly, "do not say anything about where we are or what's going on."

"I think Harry would like that even less."

George felt a pit in his stomach. He wouldn't be able to write Holly back, or any of his other friends. Or Angelina, but that might be a good thing. Fred seemed to be rather sore about him harboring feelings for his now ex-girlfriend.

"It's not me saying this, it's Dumbledore." Mr. Weasley said to his enraged children.

They ate in relative silence, with a joke here and there. Sirius began telling a story of him and Remus Lupin back at Hogwarts. The Weasley kids were too unhappy to even laugh at the funny bits.

"This means we're not going to make any money this summer." Fred said back in their room. He tossed some order forms into his trunk.

"We can't write anyone, either."

"Lee will understand as soon as we tell him what happened when we're back at school. Besides, it's not like he'll be lonely without our letters." Fred said.

"Yeah, but Holly owled me and she seems bored out of her mind."

"Let her be." Fred said bitterly.

"Why? She hasn't done anything wrong."

"She broke up me and Angelina."

"Angelina broke up with you, not Holly."

"But she caused it."

George choked back what he wanted to say—that Fred never cared about Angelina that way, he only went out with her because she was there. All Holly did was tell Angie the truth, and if anything, that made everyone happier.

"Either way, she's bored and I feel bad letting a friend be bored." George argued thoughtfully.

"She's got Davies."

"And Davies has four other birds."

This was true: Holly was not the only girl Roger was attempting to be intimate with. He consistently was seeing a handful of different girls at any given time.

"Holly's not a complete idiot. She knows what she's getting into." Fred said.

A few weeks later, George received another letter:

_Dear George,_

_You must be having a busy summer. I hope I'm not bothering you with another letter. Roger hasn't owled me back, either, so maybe you both have written me and I'm just not getting the post._

_It's still terribly boring here. I've been learning how to cook, along with some other domestic spells. I'm not very good at it. I've also started studying for N. .s. I suggest that you and Fred start, too, they're going to be terribly difficult exams._

_James has given me an idea of how to start a front against You-Know-Who. I probably shouldn't even put it in a letter. I'll tell you more when we're back at Hogwarts._

_I hope you're well! Write back, if you can!_

_Yours,_

_Holly_

George felt defeated—even Holly, who could have no idea what was going on or what the Order of the Phoenix is, was finding was to fight against You-Know-Who. And here he was, in the headquarters of the fight, unable to do anything.

He read Holly's letter again. How would her brother even have an idea of anything for her to do? He got out a piece of parchment and wrote out a quick note. He folded it in his pocket and went downstairs, planning to hang out in the kitchen for the rest of the day.

Fred joined him not too long later, as well as Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. They tried to listen hard to what was going on behind the door in front of them, but ultimately couldn't make anything out. The door opened and George stood up, looking closely at each Order member who exited. He recognized most of them—McGonagall, Snape, Dumbledore, a large chunk of his family—and then finally saw someone he didn't really know. A young man he only recognized because he had given the twins a detention in their second year. George approached him and held out the note. "Can you give this to Holly?" He asked. The man, James, nodded.

"She'll be happy to hear from someone." He said, and left.

George decided Holly looked nothing like her brother.

* * *

"I tried making shepherd's pie again." Holly said when she heard her brother Apparate into the flat.

"Oh, no." He said.

"They look good this time!"

James believed her. He could smell the savory pies, drawing him into the kitchen.

"I was told to give this to you." He said, handing her a piece of parchment.

"Who would be giving you something for me?" She raised an eyebrow and took the paper.

_Holly,_

_Sorry I haven't written you yet. I'm also sorry Davies hasn't written you yet, but that's another thing._

_Anyway, I really can't send post this summer. I think the delivery of this will explain why. But now that we are on the same page, I think writing each other will be much easier._

_Sorry your holiday hasn't been very good. I'm in a similar situation, as you might understand._

_Fred's pretty sore about Angie breaking it off with him, and he blames you. Just thought I'd warn you. I think I'm going to try with her when classes start, if Fred's not too angry about it._

_George_

Holly's chest felt full—someone had remembered her! She was so happy to have received word from a friend, she didn't even think of how James had gotten the note.

"This is actually really good." James said, spooning Holly's dish into his mouth.

"How did you get this?" She asked, holding the letter.

"How do you think?"

Wheels turned in Holly's head. "Is George in the Order?" She asked.

"No. Like you, he still has to finish school."

She kept thinking. "Where are these meetings you go to?"

"You've figured it out."

Holly was immediately jealous. George probably knew all of the secrets James knew about this upcoming war. It certainly didn't feel like a war, but James treated it as such. She planned on writing him a letter to pester him for these secrets.

James seemed to know what she was thinking.

"He doesn't know any more than you do." He said. "Even if he did, he'd be smart enough not to put it in writing."

Holly cursed under her breath and decided she would try anyway. After dinner, she excused herself to her room.

_George,_

_First off, what do you mean by "that's another thing?" in regards to Roger? What do you know that I don't?_

_Now that I've mentioned things that you might know that I don't, what do you know? What's going on in the world? James won't tell me much of anything. Maybe he's right and it's not a good idea to put anything in writing._

_Which means we'll have a lot to talk about on the Hogwarts Express._

_Holly_


End file.
